Bermuda’s Olympian Emma Harvey says she will return even stronger for next year’s major championships as she steps away from competitive swimming for a three-month break to focus on other aspects of life.

The 23-year-old is taking a rare pause after graduation as she embraces the transition from university head-on, having secured an internship with a management consulting firm in San Francisco this summer.

"I’m taking a three-month break from swimming, and I’m really happy to get learning about different areas of life. I’m really excited about it (the internship)," Harvey told the Royal Gazette during a recent trip back to Bermuda, where she starred at the national championships.

Although she is stepping out of the pool, Harvey is far from stepping away from sport. She plans to keep her body in peak condition through cross-training and strength work, laying the groundwork for a high-performance return.

"Tomorrow is going to be my last day (in the pool), and I’ll still be training but just in a different way. Going 100 per cent all in on swimming is definitely what I want to do, but I’m giving my body a little break so that when I go into 100 per cent training mode, my body can handle it," she said.

While she acknowledges the challenges of professional sport, Harvey says the appeal of a conventional 9-to-5 life is not enough to keep her out of the water for long.

“I don’t think I’ve taken more than four weeks out of the pool since I was 10 or 11, so it’s really exciting. But the one thing I’m not worried about is that three months off will lead to longer, as I really love the sport. I think after four weeks I’m going to really have to force myself to stay away, but I know in two years’ time I’m going to thank myself for it as my body is going to be healthier," Harvey shared.

Her decision comes while she is in peak form, having just set personal bests in the 50- and 100-metre butterfly at the national championships. This resurgence follows a challenging stretch where she went five years without a personal best, from age 16 to 21.

"That’s normally when people see their biggest improvement curves, and for me it’s been the three years since then that I’ve seen the most improvement. There is a lot of science out there that suggests women don’t hit their peak strength until 26 or 27 and men even later in life, so the plan is to keep going as long as I have the motivation, health, and financial backing," Harvey said.

"I’m excited for the future and feel I can definitely keep improving. My long-term goal is to shoot for an Olympic final, and it’s exciting to feel that I’m on that trajectory," she added.

Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be a major year for Harvey, with both the Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic and a slimmed-down Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on the calendar. But with the events overlapping, tough choices lie ahead.

"There is a small chance we’ll be able to do both, but I think the swimmers will have to make a choice. I have my high-level plans, so I aim at the top two or three events every year. You know ahead of time what the big events on the calendar are, but your body and skill sets change, so it’s difficult to predict where you are going to be in two years," Harvey ended.