By her own admission it has been a tough couple of years for Madelyn Moore but returning to her beloved island home has allowed her to rediscover her love of swimming.

Moore cut a dejected figure at the Pan American Games in Chile late in 2023, when her performances failed to match her expectations, while her college switch from the University of Northern Colorado to Virginia Tech also did not go according to plan.

But settling back into life on “De Rock” has allowed the 24-year-old to process the experiences of the past couple of years and look forward positively.

“I’m so glad to be back as I’ve really missed being home,” Moore said.

“I took a break last summer for a good few months and it was the longest break I’ve had in a long time. That was really nice and I got to do some travelling and reset.

“Being home and being with my parents again has been awesome because I’ve not lived at home for eight years. It’s really nice to be with them again and be back with my friends, who I’ve not really seen as I was only ever back on the island for a week at a time. It really feels like I’m home now.”

Moore has been one of Bermuda’s top swimmers for the best part of a decade and competed at the Youth Summer Olympics, the world championships, the Commonwealths, Pan American and Central American and Caribbean Games, but her switch to VTech did not pay off and left her questioning her future.

“I was at Virginia Tech for the last two years and on paper the programme sounded like exactly what I wanted, but it didn’t end up panning out the way I wanted it to,” Moore said.

“Navigating my first year as a pro athlete because I wasn’t in school for my second year in Virginia, it was a lot to take on by myself as I wasn’t part of the college team, I didn’t have those resources any more and figuring out what I was doing was really difficult.”

Sometimes when you are at a crossroads in life and unsure of what path to take, the best thing is to go home, re-evaluate and make a plan, which Moore has done with the help of national swimming coach Ben Smith and Lisa Blackburn.

“I came back to Bermuda unsure of whether I wanted to carry on swimming but I talked to Ben Smith,” Moore said.

“He was trying to pull me back into the sport and convinced me to come back because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep going or not.

“He pulled me back in and then Lisa just happened to be at the pool a lot of the time I was there, so I asked her if she could help with my race practices. We sat down for coffee and we just ran with it.

“She’s now my full-fledged coach and her coaching style is very technical, which is something that I thrive on and that I think has been missing for a few years. We’ve just been working on little details and things that I never thought I’d be good at I’m starting to get good at, which is really exciting.”

The progress has been tangible with Moore setting five personal bests at the Bermuda Amateur Swimming Association Short Course Championships last weekend, proving to herself that success can come when hard work is combined with enjoyment.

“It’s so exciting especially as you get older and you’ve been in the sport for as long as I have,” Moore said.

“You don’t see personal bests very often, so last weekend was definitely a high. We have things we need to continue working on but I’ll take the wins when I can get them and keep working. I’m almost 25 but I still feel like I’m 17 years old. I’ve had such a fun, wonderful career in swimming but I’m excited at where I am now and for the first time in a long time I’m feeling really happy in the sport. I want to keep doing it as long as I enjoy it.”

Enamoured again with her first love, Moore is hoping to compete for Bermuda at major events in the next couple of years but will need to find a way to combine intensive training with her potential new career in the Bermuda Police Service.

“I’m in the final stages of police recruitment, so I’ve been talking with a few people about how we are going to fit in training,” Moore said.

“I got my degree in criminology and criminal justice. My dad was a police officer and I always said I was going to come home and join the Bermuda Police Service for a few years. That has always been my passion and what I wanted to do so hopefully in the next few weeks that comes to fruition.

“I haven’t got the job yet but we are in the very final stages of it. If I were to get in, I don’t think I would be able to leave the island as you are training for 20 weeks, so I would potentially miss world championships this summer, which is disappointing.

“But in the grand scheme of things my eye is set on Commonwealth Games and CAC Games next summer. It’s really exciting times.”