When Madelyn Moore represents Bermuda at the Central American and Caribbean Games in late July, the island’s emergency response teams will be down one important member.

Since October, Moore has been on the front line with the Bermuda Police Service, responding to 911 calls. Originally based in Hamilton, she is now working out of Somerset and trying to combine elite-level swimming with assisting those on the island in urgent need of help.

Qualifying for a major Games is hard enough when there are no distractions but Moore is navigating day and night shifts, tiredness and mental pressures on an almost daily basis.

“I’ve been out on the road since October and since then it’s just been playing around to see how my body feels after 12-hour shifts and how it feels after a night shift and a string of nights, so it’s been a process,” she said.

“It’s been interesting as after a night shift people probably think that you are so tired that you go to bed immediately, but you really need time to wind down.

“At night, I'll be laying in bed after the 12-hour day shift and I’m just replaying things in my head, not necessarily traumatic things that happen but the workload as there’s a lot placed on you on an everyday basis.

“We get sent from call to call to call, so it’s replaying things that maybe you could have done better or things that you need to do the next day. Having that time to wind down after a shift is honestly crucial because there's a lot that goes on every day.”

Most athletes will say that sport helps to build resilience, an attribute needed to succeed away from the pitches and pools. Moore is no different, with her swimming success priming her for the demands of her job.

“Sport helps you in so many different aspects in your life,” she said.

“But with this it’s about just keeping calm and keeping your composure. I’ve been at swim meets from when I was 11 onwards and I remember feeling nervous when I was in a situation where I didn't really know what I was getting into.

“I think that helped me to learn to keep my heart rate down, take things at face value and adapt. But what has really helped is that I love everybody that I work with. So far, they’ve been amazingly supportive of my swimming and I hope that continues.”

Moore has already secured her spot at the CAC Games in Santo Domingo and with new priorities in her life the pressure to perform has been lifted off her shoulders.

Moore won a silver medal in the 2023 CAC Games when she came second to Tayde Revilak, of Mexico in the 50m butterfly.

“I’m in a new phase of life but the athlete in me always wants to do better, always wants to do more,” she said.

“But I’m doing a better job now of taking the wins when they come, (5:18) and not being so disappointed about not hitting a PB or a particular time.

“I just remind myself that I’ve started a full-time job, I'm still training at a high level and I’m still hitting qualifying times, so I have to be happy with that. Obviously I want more and now that I've got a better sense of how shift work is combining with training, I can adapt and go from there.”

The only person in Bermuda probably unhappy about Moore still being able to perform at the peak of her powers is the emergency response rota supervisor at BPS when the request for time off this summer comes in.

“I’ve barely raced since last April, and being out of the pool competition-wise for a year is already quite a big deal,” Moore said.

“So getting back into it is really exciting and seeing people that I haven’t seen in years has been awesome.

“Once the swimming dates at the CAC Games have been released, I’ll submit an e-mail to my sergeant with all the time that I need off from work and they'll give me half the time and I'll take the other half.

“It’s not the most ideal situation because obviously no one wants to give up their holiday, but when you're in the swimming world you never really go on holiday as you use every break for competitions or for training camps.

“I'm actually, I'm training remotely with a team in California right now and I’ve taken off the second half of May. That’s going to be my time to go out to California to train with the team and do a competition out there.

“Then I will compete at Bermuda Nationals, which is at the end of May so all my time is being taken up in chunks and work is really helping me out and I’d like to thank them for all their support.”