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Simone Manuel overcomes overtraining syndrome after Olympic disappointment

TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 30: Simone Manuel of Team United States reacts competing in the Women’s 50m Freestyle heats on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 30, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The first Black woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming, Simone Manuel stepped away from competition entirely in 2022.

The 26-year-old swimmer had been diagnosed with overtraining syndrome — also known as burnout — ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She continued to compete, and though she failed to qualify in the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials, she did qualify in the 50 free. Still, she knew some onlookers doubted her struggle.

“People didn’t believe that I actually was overtrained,” Manuel said in a new documentary produced by TOGETHXR. “People said that I was distracted by all my other sponsor obligations, and that’s why I didn’t perform well. That I became lazy and my success went to my head.

“It’s really hard to be vulnerable in that space because it’s so easy for people to say they don’t believe me. I don’t get the empathy or understanding that I deserve.”

She opened up about her diagnosis, and her decision to take a break from elite swimming, in the documentary. The release coincided with her return to competition at Knoxville Pro Swim, her first elite-level competition since the Tokyo Games. She placed third in the 50 free in her return.

Prior to her diagnosis, Manuel dealt with the pressures of Olympic preparation, the COVID-19 pandemic and the weight of expectation as a groundbreaking Black swimmer.

“My training was going pretty well until the pandemic hit,” Manuel said. “Pools got shut down fairly quickly just like everything else. What are we doing? What’s the solution? Are the Olympics happening? When is it going to happen?

“I think I had maybe two or three days off before we found that backyard pool, and I just continued to train.”

At the same time, she started to receive even more spotlight as a leading Black athlete.

“I was then being asked to speak on these panels: ‘How can we support our Black community?’ ‘How can we diversify the sport of swimming?’” she continued.

“Being an athlete who was trying to focus on the Olympics, it was my job to work and continue to train. But also then be asked to continue to put my emotions on the line for other people to somehow be entertained by it. It was just a really tough time for me. Because I was training so hard and never took a break, I think my body just ended up crashing.”

As someone who “has a high swimming IQ,” Manuel knew something was wrong with her swimming, she said. She first felt it in January 2021, and she brought her concern to her coach at the time. He was dismissive of her concerns, she said, telling her that she was training “really well.”

“My stroke wasn’t feeling the same. My rhythm was off,” she said. “And I remember having conversations with my coach and asking him, ‘Well, how do you think I’m training?’ ‘Oh, you’re training really well. This is the best training I’ve ever seen you have.’ And I’m like, ‘But my times are slower.’

“I wish I would have just told him, ‘No, I’m not going to come in.’”

By March 2021, she wasn’t able to compete in a full lineup of events. After a meet that month, a doctor diagnosed her with overtraining syndrome. Still, she kept training until her doctor mandated a break, or else she might not have been able to compete at the Olympic trials.

“It really was just about damage control,” she said. “I continued to train for a while per my coach’s instructions and my progress continued to decline.”

While Manuel wound up making the Olympic team, she described her experience in Tokyo as “not fun at all.” She says it was difficult watching people compete in the 100 free, the event in which she had won gold at the 2016 Olympics.

She placed 11th in the 50 free semifinals in Tokyo, falling short of a spot in the final race.

After her absence from the sport, she returns with a new outlook, though with her eyes still looking toward the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“Going into the next chapter of swimming would be trying to block out all the noise,” Manuel said. “I just want to swim with no pressure or expectations from anybody, even myself. Which I don’t know what that looks like, but I think that’s what’s next for me and that’s definitely going to be the focus: falling back in love with this sport and just being happy doing it.

“And then get back to competing on the highest level and hopefully winning some more medals.”

Talons, Bandits Take the Field for Inaugural 2025 AUSL Championship Series

The Talons crowd around home plate to celebrate a home run during a 2025 AUSL game.
The top-seeded Talons will take on the Bandits in the inaugural AUSL championship series. (Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited Softball League)

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) enters its inaugural postseason this weekend, with the Talons and Bandits to battle in the 2025 Championship Series to determine the first-ever title-winner of the new four-team pro league.

The 2025 AUSL Championship Series will run as a best-of-three competition between the top two finishers in the standings, with the Talons entering as favorites behind a league-best 18-6 season record.

Meanwhile, the offense-heavy Bandits finished regular-season play in second place with a 15-9 record, despite leading the AUSL in batting average, runs scored, doubles, home runs, total bases, slugging percentage, hits, triples, on-base percentage, and RBIs.

The Bandits' offense — led by 2025 AUSL Hitter of the Year Erin Coffel — will have to contend with the Talons' league-leading defense.

Helmed by this year's Defensive Player of the Year, Talons shortstop Hannah Flippen, the inaugural 10-player AUSL All-Defensive Team included a full five athletes from the league-leading roster.

Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick also made the elite defenders list, earning her two honors behind an AUSL-leading 2.04 ERA for the Talons and the league's only perfect record in the circle.

Notably, despite the Talons finishing the 2025 regular season on top, the Bandits have been the toughest task for the league leaders this season: The No. 2 squad handed them four of their six losses, outscoring the Talons 45-31 across their eight matchups.

"They've been a thorn in our side a little bit," acknowledged Talons head coach Howard Dobson.

Even so, this weekend wipes the slate clean.

"It doesn't matter what's happened up to this point," said Bandits head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz. "It's literally which team comes at it the sharpest, making the fewest mistakes."

How to watch the 2025 AUSL Championship Series

The Talons and Bandits will take the field for the inaugural AUSL Championship Series at 3 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ESPN.

Sunday's 2 PM ET clash will also air on ESPN, with ESPN2 claiming Monday's potential 7 PM ET winner-take-all finale.

2025 Euro Sets Overall Attendance Record Days Before Final

A screen over the pitch reads "New Record 112,535, the highest combined attendance across a women's Euro quarterfinals stage" during a 2025 Euro match.
The 2025 Euro officially garnered the highest attendance in tournament history. (Alex Caparros - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

With one last match remaining, the 2025 UEFA Women's Euro has already become the most-attended edition in tournament history, bursting through the 600,000-fan attendance mark during the first match of this week's semifinal round.

That Tuesday mark officially surpassed the previous tournament record attendance of 574,875 fans, set during the 2022 edition in England.

Exceeding event organizers' predictions, Switzerland's iteration is currently on track to become the first Women's Euro to see average crowds of over 20,000 fans per match — a mark made even more impressive by the fact that half of the eight 2025 venues have capacities well under 17,000 seats.

Along with the competition's record-smashing attendance, global TV viewership of the 2025 Euro has also boomed, with live coverage reaching new highs both in Europe and abroad.

A peak of 10.2 million UK viewers tuned in to see the defending champion Lionesses defeat Italy in their semifinal on Tuesday, delivering broadcaster ITV their largest audience of 2025 so far.

US broadcaster Fox Sports is also seeing historic numbers from the company's history-making media deal, with US viewership continuing to climb.

With an average of 925,000 US viewers tuning in to see Germany advance past France in last week's quarterfinal, Fox is already gearing up for an even better turnout for Sunday's grand finale.

How to watch the 2025 Euro final

World No. 2 Spain will take on No. 5 England in the 2025 Euro final at 12 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on Fox.

Indiana Fever Pass Las Vegas Aces to Claim No. 6 in the WNBA Standings

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell celebrates teammate Aari McDonald's three-pointer during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Indiana Fever retook the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings with Thursday's win. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

As injured guard Caitlin Clark looked on from the bench, the Indiana Fever refused to quit, silencing Las Vegas 80-70 on Thursday night to overtake the Aces at No. 6 in the WNBA standings.

Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell led the team with 21 points, helping the Fever secure back-to-back wins over the now-No. 7 Aces for the first time since the franchise landed in Las Vegas in 2018.

"It started out with our defense," Indiana forward Natasha Howard said after the game. "We don't rely on our offense a lot…. When our defense is going, our offense is going."

The rest of Thursday's slate saw standout individual performances give way to blowout victories, with the No. 4 Seattle Storm and No. 10 LA Sparks both earning results.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum tied LA-turned-Seattle star Nneka Ogwumike for the most 30-point games in franchise history during LA's 101-86 Thursday win over the last-place Connecticut Sun, hitting the milestone in just 24 matchups.

Elsewhere, 19-year-old Seattle rookie Dominique Malonga also made waves, becoming the youngest-ever WNBA player to record a double-double with her 14-point, 10-rebound showing in the Storm's 95-57 drubbing of the No. 11 Chicago Sky.

All in all, as some teams heat up, others are out in the cold as the race to the 2025 WNBA postseason grows fiercer by the day.

WNBA Expansion Side Golden State Shoots for Debut Season Playoff Run

Forward Janelle Salaün celebrates her game-tying basket with her Golden State Valkyries teammates during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Golden State Valkyries are the last WNBA team to resume regular-season play following 2025 All-Star Weekend. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The final WNBA team returning to regular-season action from the 2025 All-Star weekend hits the court on Friday night, when the Golden State Valkyries resume their quest to become the first expansion side to make the playoffs in their debut season.

Entering the WNBA All-Star break on a three-game losing skid, No. 9 Golden State will shoot to regain momentum with games against No. 12 Dallas and No. 13 Connecticut this weekend.

The weekend action features tight clashes across the WNBA standings, with serious positioning implications on the line:

  • No. 3 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 2 New York Liberty, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Both the Mercury and Liberty are getting healthy, with Phoenix aiming to curb a two-game losing streak during their visit to a surging New York.
  • No. 12 Dallas Wings vs. No. 9 Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): It's a youth-fueled battle as the quick-start Valkyries attempt to re-enter the win column against the young and hungry Wings.
  • No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Washington Mystics, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The up-and-down Mystics look to prove they can hang with some of the best as they host perennial playoff contenders Seattle.
  • No. 5 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Sunday at 7 PM ET (NBA TV): Following a turbulent July, Atlanta faces a tough test of their resilience in Sunday's clash with the league-leading Lynx.

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