'I wanted to do him proud': Shayna Jack opens up at trials on devastating passing of her dog
ADELAIDE: Shayna Jack's voice trembled, and tears welled in her eyes, as she revealed at the Australian swimming trials on Friday night that the recent loss of her beloved dog Hugo had left her harbouring "regret" and "guilt".
Hugo and Willa, her other dog, were by her side at home as she contemplated taking her own life amid the hellish drug saga.
In her dogs' steadfast presence, she vowed to fight on.
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Unprompted, Jack opened up to reporters about her dog Hugo after Friday night's final of the women's 100-metre freestyle.
The 26-year-old finished eighth in the two-lap sprint, which means she won't race at the Singapore world championships as an individual 100m freestyle swimmer, nor as a member of the 100m freestyle relay squad.
Shayna Jack after the women's 100m freestyle final. Getty
She can still score a spot on the team in the 50m freestyle on Saturday, the final day of the trials, although by her own admission she's underprepared because of her trip to the South African jungle — she found herself there as a star of the TV show I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! — and the limited work she's done in the pool since.
Jack returned from the jungle to devastating news. Her "gentle giant", an 85-kilogram Great Dane, was battling cancer, and had to be put down.
Jack was asked after the 100m final how she felt about her swim.
Upbeat, the Queenslander admitted that in light of her lean build-up it came as a "shock" to post 53.79 seconds in her heat, swum on Friday morning.
Jack also said she "just wanted to have some fun" at the trials, and then meandered into talking about Hugo.
"Finding out that I was losing my dog, it was a huge mental toll and one that really took me aback and made me struggle turning up every day," Jack said, choking back tears.
Watch the 2025 Australian swimming trials live and free on Nine and 9Now, taking place from June 9-14.
Shayna Jack and her dog Hugo, who recently had to be put down. Instagram
"When I got back from the jungle, I had two weeks with him. So there was a bit of regret just around whether or not I did everything for him. I think I felt a lot of that guilt. I'm someone that does feel things quite strongly, and after losing him I guess there was a lot of reflection, [and asking], 'Did I do right by him, by choosing my swimming a lot of the time and choosing my career over my dog?'"
Jack adopted the dog in 2019, just after returning home from a training camp in Japan after being dealt the news that crushed her world.
She was supposed to go from the camp in Japan to the world championships in South Korea.
She was initially slapped with a four-year ban, but that was reduced to two years after she was found to have not knowingly ingested the drug Ligandrol.
Shayna Jack, surrounded by her lawyer and family, faces media early in her hellish drug saga. Getty
"He [Hugo] was a huge part of my return [to the sport], so losing Hugo, it set me back a fair bit," Jack said.
"He got me through everything to come back in the first place, so I wanted to do him proud and just show up [at the trials]."
She felt Hugo watching over her on Friday.
"I know he would be proud of me today for getting up and doing my job and having fun with it," Jack said.
"I came in smiling, I finished that race smiling."
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