Training Characteristics and Physiological Adaptations of an Elite Sprint Kayak Athlete: A Journey From Preconception to Return to Sport Postpartum

Purpose:
To investigate the training, performance, and physiological characteristics of a sprint kayak Olympian throughout her preconception, pregnancy, and successful return to high-performance sport postpartum (June 2020 to September 2023).

Methods:
A longitudinal observational case study.

Results:
Through a deliberate training strategy during pregnancy, aerobic fitness was maintained and muscular strength improved. The athlete engaged in 1683 training sessions totaling 101,426 minutes of training, exceeding >150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity during 82% of the study weeks. She continued engaging in high-intensity (>90% maximum heart rate) aerobic and strength-training sessions until trimester 3 of her pregnancy, accumulating a total tonnage of 1,101,716 kg lifted across pregnancy. The athlete delivered a healthy baby girl at 39 weeks gestation. At 10 weeks postpartum, the athlete returned to national-squad training and qualified for her third Olympics at 35 weeks postpartum. While the athlete did not experience any exercise-related injuries or complications during or following pregnancy, obstetric intervention was required 6 weeks postpartum, and the combination of hematological assessments, presentation of clinical symptoms, and training load warranted an iron transfusion at 33 weeks postpartum.

Conclusions:
This study demonstrates the potential for pregnant athletes to continue training and successfully return to sport at the highest level. Highly trained athletes can maintain and/or improve certain fitness traits and performance throughout the perinatal period with strategic and deliberate programming and a multidisciplinary support team who are pivotal in supporting pregnant athletes in high-performance environments. Moreover, pregnancy provides opportunity to prioritize certain aspects of training otherwise not possible during normal training and/or competition schedules.