Katie Zaferes has revealed her immense pride at being able to successfully return to elite triathlon after becoming a mother.

Balancing the demands of chasing points and races across continents with the demands of motherhood is a huge challenge, but Katie is succeeding – and then some.

In past interviews Zaferes – now ranked #29 in the world – admitted that initially after deciding to have a family, she thought her athletic career at the highest level would be over.

Instead though, she was inspired to return by other new mothers who came back to sport very successfully after childbirth. She loved her job, and not giving it up is a decision she has never regretted.

Zaferes pride at triathlon return

Writing on Instagram to mark son Kimble’s first birthday, she recounted the trials and tribulations of coming back into the sport after taking the time off pregnancy requires, highlighting the wide spectrum of thoughts and feelings that came with the transition.

“I’m proud of how I’ve been able to navigate (with a lot of support and assistance) coming back to racing world triathlon. I think at the start of the year I was ranked 177th and now I’m ranked 29th. Finishing 37th at my first race back at WTCS Abu Dhabi to finishing 5th in WTCS Montreal last week.

“There’s been so much uncertainty and basically I just couldn’t envision what this was going to look like before committing to it. And yes we are still quite often flying by the seat of our pants.

“But when I think back to pre-Kimble and how I never really thought I could do this once we started a family, my goodness am I glad we decided to give it a try. This year has been so different, so meaningful and has already had so many extraordinary moments and people in it that I’m so glad have been part of my son’s life.”

‘I’ve surprised myself’

Zaferes added that despite moments of doubt at times, the season so far has been a pleasant surprise in terms of what the former world champion has been able to achieve. Culminating in that terrific performance in Montreal.

“I haven’t felt confident in every decision or moment. I’ve worked hard, gotten lucky and tried to take advantage of any opportunity provided to me. I’ve surprised myself with what I’ve been capable of (again with the help of so many people).

“I suppose all just to say, we’re doing this and it feels so right. Not always easy, but so right. Thanking the ginormous tribe of humans that support us because wowzers there is 0% chance we could do this without you.”