Mother-of-one Lisa Forrest has had many careers. An Olympian at 16, she has since then worked variously as a journalist, TV and radio presenter, actor and author.

And let’s not forget mother. As mum to son Dexter, five, Lisa has juggled her many work commitments to fit in with his schedule and now that he has started school, she misses that ‘juggle’.
“Dexter attends a school in inner-city Sydney. He learns Chinese and he’s very imaginative. But I can’t wait for the holidays,” she admits. “I miss him when he’s at school.”
At 44, Lisa does not look terribly different to the 16-year-old nicknamed ‘Smiley’ who was selected as a backstroker for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Back then she was a schoolgirl from Sydney’s northern beaches, who was not only selected for the Games but named captain of the women’s swim team.
When it was announced that Australia would be boycotting the Olympics because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, Lisa and her fellow team-members had to decide whether or not to give up the chance to attend a Games they’d spent much of their lives training for.
More than 25 years later, Lisa has written a book, Boycott about that time in her life. It is her first adult book but she has already penned two other children’s books:  djmAx and Meg Banana, as well as Making the Most of It, which is aimed at teenagers.
“When I was a teenager, I always wanted to write books,” says Lisa. “When a young person came up to me and said this was the best book I read as a teenager!’ – that was as good as a gold medal.
A good student who loved writing, Lisa was side-tracked from a writing career when she started excelling at swimming.
Having first swum for Australia at 14, she was a two-time Commonwealth Games medalist. However, she missed out on a medal at the 1980 Olympics when her foot slipped off the starting blocks.
Disappointed with her performance and disillusioned with the politics of swimming, she retired a few years later and began working – first as a sports reporter and then as a news journalist.
By 1990, she was living in New York and studying acting. After returning home, she worked as an actor and radio journalist for a while before beginning her writing career.
In 1999, she married her husband Jesse, an IT executive. Their son Dexter was born in 2003.
“I got pregnant on my first try at 38 and I was really happy although motherhood had not been on my list. I was a young feminist, I wanted to get out and see the world!”
Thrilled though she was to be expecting, Lisa’s pregnancy was bitter-sweet as her best friend, Edwina was suffering breast cancer at the time.
“While I was pregnant, she was very sick. We had great talks. We shared lots of great things and then she went into remission.
“I had a great pregnancy – I suffered nausea but it was not too bad.  The birth was pretty good too although Dexter was 57cm and he got stuck behind my pelvic bone. I needed a ventouse [forceps] delivery. When he came out he was all arms and legs.”
Like most mums, Lisa took a little while to regain her pre-pregnancy body but unlike most mums, she set herself a high standard.
“Elle McPherson had just given birth at the same time as me and I kept seeing pictures of her in magazines looking amazing. I kept thinking, ‘why can’t I look like that?’ But then I’d think about the fact that she probably has an army of staff doing everything for her and if I had that, then I could look great too!”
Sadly, Lisa lost her friend Edwina to cancer when Dexter was just 15 months old.
“I could never say motherhood was hard, as my best friend was having chemotherapy at the time and you can’t compare.”
After Edwina – who had three children – passed away, Lisa forced herself to go out and meet other mums.
“I didn’t really get into Mothers’ Group but I’d joined a prenatal group at the Prince of Wales hospital in Randwick and I still see a couple of those mums.
“I’ve also got a lot of single and gay friends who wanted to be involved in Dexter’s life. If they’re interested in my life and in Dexter, then I say ‘come on in’.”
These days, Lisa keeps busy with her writing and broadcasting careers and she would love another baby.
“Dexter would really like a brother, I miscarried after I had him. I’m not interested in IVF but we will keep trying for a bit longer.”
As an older mum, she feels she had an advantage.
“I think being older helps you - if you pay attention to your friends who have had children, you see what works and what doesn’t.
“As a mum, I am into boundaries and believe things haven’t changed all that much with babies. They get tired and need quiet time. I’ve got friends who take their kids out all over the place but I think one event a day is enough.
“We didn’t go out much when Dexter was a baby - we had a very calm life. Park in the morning and sleep in the afternoon.”
Lisa too is not afraid of showing who’s the boss.
“It’s important to remember you are the mother – not a friend. I’m sure Dexter thinks I’m a pain in the neck sometimes but I just tell him, ‘I’m the mother - you’re the kid’.”
And her top tip for new mums?
“Don’t criticise your husband for the way he does things. If you have left your child in the care of somebody else – whether it’s your husband, your mum or your mother-in-law, you have to trust their way.
We can be really critical of our husbands for not doing it our way. But if you don’t criticise them, they’re more likely to do it again.”