Tayla made for any challenge Singapore’s waters have for her

Plenty of people dream of cruising the world’s seven seas, but New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Tayla Martin wants to swim each of them, and any other ocean, bay, harbour, river or body of water where there’s a race.

So far, the 26-year-old’s aquatic adventures have taken her to the Red Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Ocean and on 18 July, Martin will add Keppel Harbour, off Singapore’s Sentosa Island, to her impressive list when she makes her debut for the Australia Dolphins in the women’s five kilometre event at the World Aquatic Championships.

It’s a huge effort for an athlete who grew up in Sydney’s western suburbs, 50 kilometres away from the nearest beach. However, Martin has not allowed any hurdle to stop here, and in this wide ranging interview she reveals why she consumes a whopping 4000 calories a day, her alopecia, being gnawed on by sea lice during a race and everything you probably didn’t know about ocean swimming.

Tayla Martin with Paris Olympic gold medallist Olivia Wunsch after both were both named in Australia’s 2025 World Aquatics Championships team. The two NSWIS Scholarship holders train together as squadmates for Carlile.

NSWIS: Tayla, one of your mottos is you ‘choose your sacrifices’. How does that apply – particularly in light of your chosen sport?

Tayla Martin [TM]: Swimming requires a lot of hard work, a lot of long hours in the pool and out of the pool. Obviously, a lot of work is done in the water, but a lot of social things. . .family gatherings . . . have been sacrificed for my sport. But I have been rewarded by the places I’ve gone to through swimming. So, a sacrifice for me is seen as an opportunity for you to become great. I see it as a strength . . . empowerment. It shapes the person you become.

NSWIS: You’ve had some hurdles in life that you have needed to overcome, how do you make lemonade out of bitter lemons.

TM: We had to wear a cap in one of the first nationals I competed in, but you can take it off as soon as you start. So, I dived in and as I took the cap off my googles also came off because someone came behind and flicked them off my head! I was freaking out. I found my goggles, put them back on, but by that time 20 seconds had gone, and everyone was way in front of me. I was dead last! I came through with resilience – just got in the right mindset of: ‘I’m just going to keep fighting; the race isn’t over until I’m finished.‘ So, I caught up to them at the first turning can and weaved my way through. I got two yellow cards [penalties], but I didn’t get disqualified and ended up getting the gold medal for my age [group] – which was my first national gold medal. That showed the race isn’t finished until it’s over.  

NSWIS: That’s good advice for all of us to follow. A lot of people would be surprised most of your training is doing in a 50m chlorine pool.

TM: It’s a more controlled environment to learn things like pacing. I do have ocean training sessions, but I use my ocean swims during the season to get the practice I need in a race environment; to experience the salt, the buoyancy, the different environment. Besides the tide and currents, it lets you practice tactics like weaving around people, changing course and being able to sight the buoy a kilometre away.

NSWIS: It’s a tough sport. How do you mentally prepare to swim five, 10 kilometres against the current and being battered by waves?

TM: The crew at NSWIS is very supportive and helpful in that aspect. But, from a personal perspective, I feel like I do the training for this. My week consists of 11 two-hour sessions in the water, three sessions in the gym, and then I come into NSWIS for physio once a week. I do my recovery, ice baths, saunas, all the extras I can get in. I probably swim about 70-80kms a week, so that’s seven to eight kilometres a session.

NSWIS: And to fuel all of that, I believe you need to consume 4000 calories a day. To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of 81 Weet Bix biscuits. And I note a 1.2 kilo box of Weet Bix contains 72!

TM: When I’m carb loading coming into a competition, I try to hit about 3500-4000 calories a day, which is a lot. Obviously, you can get a more calorie dense diet through your pastas or your grainy-type foods before the big dance, but I need to consume about 3000 calories a day just to keep up with my training schedule.

NSWIS: The start of race is like a rugby ruck and maul in water . . . arms flaying everywhere, legs kicking . . .  is it important to keep away from that because there is a danger you could kicked in the head.

TM: In Australia we start in the water, so there’ll be 50 or 60 athletes lined across from one buoy to the other. A few whistles are blown and then the siren sounds and it’s a case of everyone from starting in a line to going to one spot. You can imagine the arm throwing, being literally shoulder to shoulder with 50 other people. Internationally we dive into the water. Some people like to hang back – I don’t – but there’s 60 athletes diving into the water and going for one specific spot.

NSWIS: If you picture an ocean water race, there’s choppy waves, you’ve got a current or a tide going against or with you, sea lice munching on your skin, you’ve have murderous chaffing from your costume. How do you enjoy that?

TM: We try and block it out. All sports come with their pros and cons, but there are so many more pros that outweigh the cons. Through ocean swimming I’ve been able to see some incredible places.  

NSWIS: What’s the toughest body of water you’ve competed in?

TM: It would have to be the Red Sea off Egypt [where we held the world championship qualifiers]. It definitely wasn’t a course I was used to. It had six, seven turning cans with one being a right hand turn rather than all being left hand turns. It was challenging to comprehend that, and the water temperature was 20 degrees which was borderline cold. I had to make sure I was fuelled enough (ocean water swimmer have food, normally liquified, during a race) so I didn’t get cold towards the end of the race.

NSWIS: And the contrast to that is you’ve swim in water with a temperature of 31 degrees. What’s that like?

TM: Hot! I usually deal with the hot water better than I do the cold. I’d rather be hotter, sweating and feeling as though my face is on fire rather than being cold and not able to move.

NSWIS: Obviously it’s important to be able to read the ocean? I understand you were in a not so great position in the world championship qualifier in Egypt, but a current carried you to a great one.

TM: Yes, that’s how I got my spot on the Australian team! In the last lap in Egypt, I had the current against me when I was sitting at the back of the pack of 28. Coming around we had the current with us and I started to weave my way through and ended up 15^th and felt really happy because it was my second best international result.  My coaches face lit up like a Christmas tree and he was like: ‘I have no idea how you pulled that off’. But I did, and that’s just experience . . .   being able to use the past experiences for me to be able to perform the way I did and, yeah, using those tactics, strategies.

NSWIS: Why, at 26, is it special you’ve been selected for Australia? And is there too much emphasis placed on age, the notion if you haven’t represented by 18 it’s all over?

TM: It’s been a long time coming. I was a late bloomer as a kid [from 13s to 18s]. As an age swimmer I wasn’t really good, I was a breaststroker, but when I started ocean swimming I just wanted to keep going and tick off little goals along the way – and I’ve finally got to here. There was a point between 18-21 when I asked, ‘Do I keep going?’ ‘Do I leave the sport?’ ‘Do I go and get a degree and a job?’   But I hadn’t achieved what I’d wanted to achieve. I thought to myself if I don’t make the Olympics that’s OK, but I wanted to become an Australian Dolphin – and I’ve finally ticked that off at 26.

NSWIS: Who has been the biggest influence on your life?

TM: Mum shaped me into the person I am today. She’s been there since day one and between taking me to training when I was a little girl, every day, morning and nights, sitting in the car in the early morning, freezing cold. But also, there’s the little things that matter. Always being there, always being supportive. Always making my lunch, having dinner on the table, always having a home to go to. When I was 15, I had to choose between tennis and swimming and mum said: ‘no matter what you choose, I love you no matter what.’ I chose swimming and she was gobsmacked! [laughs]. She had no idea why I chose swimming, but mum has been on this journey since day one.

NSWIS: Tayla, you have alopecia, a disease that made you lose your hair, at what age did that happen – and how did it impact your life?

TM: I got alopecia when I was 10 months old. It’s an autoimmune disease that kills the hair follicles. I have no hair head-to-toe. Mum was a big impact on that as well. She lost her hair at 17 and having her as a role model . . .  her not having hair . . . meant I wasn’t alone in that situation. Not being bullied at school helped heaps. I was very loved, a very happy kid. Those fundamentals from when I was really little allowed me to pull through with confidence. A lady told me she’d had cancer a few years ago, but she thought I showed off my head so well. But I never knew anything different. The lady said she was sorry because I probably get asked about it all the time, but I’m happy to speak about me being different.

NSWIS: You are in the Olympics Unleashed program which is a great AOC initiative where Olympians and aspiring Olympians, like yourself, go into schools to encourage children to embrace not only sport but life and everything that makes them different. What do the kids ask about your alopecia?

TM: Sometimes kids ask about it and I say what I’ve just said. If they’re really little, I’ll say: God made me different, and that’s OK.’ I embrace it more than I dwell on it. Being a part of Olympics Unleashed has been great and its helped a lot with my public speaking and me being able to tell my story and to encourage people to embrace who they are.  

NSWIS: Many of us are held back by the fear of being different. It mightn’t be physical; it might be our personality. But so many people don’t achieve their potential because they’re worried about what other people might think about them. What’s your advice?

TM: Everyone is human, everyone is unique in their own way and my advice is to embrace that. ‘Be humble but be confident’ is a motto I abide by. 

NSWIS: Final question, what are your goals, and how is NSWIS – and the people who are working with you from the Institute – helping you?

TM:  Before this year I didn’t think making the Australian team was possible. So, to everyone who I work with – and to those who I don’t work with – I thank you. LA2028 is now a potential goal, and that’s exciting. It’s been a surreal time for me since being selected for the Dolphins; a lot of pinch me moments.    

Daniel Lane, NSWIS