KEY POINTS:
Four-time Olympic champion Inge de Bruijn, of the Netherlands, announced her retirement from swimming yesterday.
De Bruijn, who has not competed at a major international meet since winning the 50m freestyle gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said she had nothing left to achieve.
"I am 33 years now and a granny in swimming, while my body isn't recovering so well like it did in the past," she said.
De Bruijn was the most feared female swimmer of her generation. She won a stack of world, Olympic and European titles to become one of the greatest swimmers of all time.
De Bruijn won gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and defended her 50m freestyle title in Athens four years later.
