Once upon a time Hayley Lewis was the 15-year-old “girl next door” who swept to fame in 1990 by winning five gold medals at the Auckland Commonwealth Games. This amazing feat placed Hayley into the hearts and minds of Australians everywhere. Over her swimming career Hayley had success at the Australian Titles, Pan Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and World Championships. She remains the current Australian five kilometer and ten kilometer Open Water Champion.

Out of the water, Hayley now has her own swim school in Carindale, Brisbane, a range of fitness equipment; she’s a television commentator and is highly sought after for speaking engagements and personal appearances. And above all, Hayley is a super mum, with two young boys and an entrepreneurial husband at her side – and she’s still only 32.

So are Hayley’s two sons Jacob (eight), and Kai (nearly three), set to be champions as well? “They both swim,” says Hayley, “Jacob has been swimming for a long time and he shows pretty good potential, but I don’t think he really has any desire to be an Olympian… Kai is still in the Learn to Swim and Safety class – he goes seven days a week.”

Hayley’s school – her lifelong dream that became a reality in 2002 – is busy all year round. “My husband Greg is a physiotherapist – he has his own business but he knew I’d always wanted to open a swim school. He said ‘we’ll do it!’ and we opened a beautiful pool at a Westfield shopping centre – it was the first pool in a shopping centre in the whole of Australia. The first few years were a long and tiring road – I’d never had a job and had no idea about how to look after staff. But the last couple of years have been more enjoyable. We know more about the business now, and we have a good client base.”

So how does Hayley balance the demands of the pool with the demands of motherhood? “I speak to quite a few mothers every day, and a lot of them are in the same position as me – they’re juggling kids with work and other responsibilities. You have to be extremely organized and know exactly what the kids have to do and where they’ve got to be. You have to get organised today for the next day – it’s a juggling act.”