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Paul McNamara

After the loneliness and long hours of rehabilitation following knee surgery, three-time Olympian Camille Cheng Lily-mei savoured the “humbling” experience of returning to competition alongside a pair of 13-year-olds.
Out of the pool since she competed in the 2024 Paris Games, Cheng endured a mentally challenging past 12 months as she recovered from the procedure to repair her right anterior cruciate ligament.
“I’ve never had such a big injury and so much time out,” said Cheng, who made a low-key comeback at a Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) meeting this month.
“There’s a physical protocol for recovery, you have timelines, and work with physios and doctors, but there’s no mental support and I really struggled with that.”
A co-founder of mental health charity Mind the Waves, Cheng documented her progress on social media.
“It was partly an accountability thing, but a lot of other people understand the struggle of being injured and there was comfort in sharing, and maybe grabbing a coffee with someone to talk,” she said.

“You become disconnected from people because you don’t train at the same time as your teammates, so it was quite a lonely experience at times.”
Training for the 10km race in January’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon provided a “fun and social” distraction, and a refreshing goal that came with “zero expectations”.
As she closed in on her swimming return, however, Cheng began to fret about whether she would adhere to the cliched “comeback narrative”.
“You hear all these very inspiring stories of athletes coming back stronger, and have people telling you, ‘It’s OK, you will, too’,” Cheng said.
“I was asking myself, ‘What if I don’t?’ But then I started to think, ‘At this point of my career, what would coming back stronger even mean to me?’
“I’m still competitive and I like to perform … but the most important thing now is that I’m having fun. If I’m a happy swimmer that translates into performances.”
An International Olympic Committee mental health ambassador, Cheng was a panellist at last week’s inaugural LIFT Lunch; staged at Hong Kong Football Club to celebrate and advocate for women in sport.
She has acknowledged she became “completely burnt out” last year after filling the swimming void with her Mind the Waves and Olympic duties, alongside work in sport and performance psychology.
Nonetheless, her desire for an active calendar stems from “the periods in my life when I lived 24/7 as an athlete”.
“If I wasn’t training, I was recovering or preparing, so I was never really off,” Cheng said. “That is so mentally, physically and emotionally draining but I felt this pressure of, ‘This is what it means to be an elite professional athlete’.

“I figured out that performance is one metric of success, but when I don’t have swimming there will be other things that are important to me. I show up as a better athlete when I have time to check out of my sport.”
A psychology graduate from the University of California, Cheng’s ongoing interest in the topic is a consequence of “my own lived experience”.
“There has been a lot of progress around mental health and mental well-being in this part of the world … but it’s still seen as a taboo, and a very medical concept,” she said. “We’re trying to position our charity on the preventative side, so people are more open to talking about their ups and downs, and the everyday you can do for your mental wellbeing.”
The owner of seven Asian Games medals from the 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions, Cheng competed in the 50m freestyle in her comeback meeting.
“The heats were so humbling, I had two 13-year-olds in the lanes next to me,” she said. “I looked at the start sheet, you see the ages, 13, 13, 16, 32. But I had that joy of racing as if I was 13 again, and I made the final, which I wasn’t expecting.”
Back too late to qualify for this year’s Asian Games, Cheng is eyeing December’s short-course world championships in Beijing, where she lived during childhood.
“I’ve always stuck to long course, so maybe this is the year I do something different,” she said. “I’m rebuilding and I want to do that from a good place, so I’m still figuring things out.”


Hong Kong Olympian Camille Cheng enjoying sport again after injury took mental toll

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Swimming

Camille Cheng, here at a qualifying event for the Olympic Games in 2021, has been out of the pool since she competed in the 2024 Paris Games. Photo: Nora Tam

Camille Cheng (centre) speaking on a panel at the inaugural LIFT Lunch at Hong Kong Football Club. Photo: Handout

Camille Cheng (second left) with 2024 Olympics relay teammates Natalie Kan (left), Tam Hoi-lam (second right) and Stephanie Au. Photo: SF&OC

Hong Kong a magnet for ‘world-class’ sport as Manchester City and Chelsea games confirmed

Former stars (back row, left to right) Shaun Wright-Phillips, Christian Vieri, Roberto Di Matteo and Edgar Davids at the launch of the 2026 Hong Kong Football Festival. Photo: Elson Li

Erling Haaland celebrates Manchester City’s victory over Arsenal on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Nicolo Barella (No 23) is mobbed by teammates after scoring in Inter’s win over Cagliari on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

Hong Kong given rugby 7s world series hope but told to up game for more elite chances

Matteo Avitabile goes on the charge for Hong Kong during their Melrose Claymores final on Sunday against Japan. Photo: Karma Lo

South Africa captain Impi Visser takes the fight to Spain during the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: Karma Lo

The likes of Australia’s Maddison Levi are inspiring the next generation, Pinder says. Photo: Sam Tsang

Sport

Hong Kong

Swimmer rediscovering childhood joy of the pool following nearly two years out of action and surgery to repair her right knee


Swimmer rediscovering childhood joy of the pool following nearly two years out of action and surgery to repair her right knee.


Hong Kong Olympian Camille Cheng enjoying sport again after injury took mental toll

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Swimmer rediscovering childhood joy of the pool following nearly two years out of action and surgery to repair her right knee

Swimmer rediscovering childhood joy of the pool following nearly two years out of action and surgery to repair her right knee