German international Sarah Poewe has returned to her Cape Town roots as she searches for the edge that made her one of the world's best breaststroke swimmers.
She has been training in the city since last August as part of her preparations for next year's Olympics with long-time former coach Karoly von Toros.
Poewe, still only 23, says she came back to Van Toros because of their understanding. "Karoly discovered me when I was 10 and gave me the courage and support I needed."
They both claim there has been a rapid improvement in her performance already.
The swimmer, who represented South Africa at the Sydney Olympics and Germany at the Athens Games, failed to qualify for next month's World Championships in Melbourne during the German trials.
She said she went to a national training camp, held at high altitude in Hannover, and was ill going to the trials.
"My year didn't end on a good note because I failed to qualify for Melbourne, but I'm focusing on the next goal - which is the Olympics.
"I'm doing exceptional times in training with Karoly but I'll know for sure if it's working once I compete in a gala," said Poewe.
Her next competition is the German nationals in April where she will try to qualify for the University Games, to be held later in the year. Poewe is the reigning Germany 100m breaststroke champion.
It is almost five years since she left this country, and she feels not much has improved in South African swimming when it comes to facilities.
"One of the main reasons I left South Africa was the (poor) quality of facilities... they are still the same... now there is a pool at UWC which is good enough, but is very far."
Poewe was born in Cape Town and was the second best breaststroker in the country behind Penny Heyns at the time of her departure.
After making her international debut at age 14 in 1997, Poewe was already ranked in the world's top 10 in three different breaststroke events - 50m, 100m and the 200m - at the end of 1999 at age 17.
Her star continued to shine at the Short Course world championships in 2000 where she won the 50m (30.66) and 100m breaststrokes (1:06.21).
This was followed in 2001 by a 100m breaststroke win at the SA Nationals in 1min 08.02sec, a time which automatically qualified her for the world championships. Poewe went on to claim the 50m and 100m gold at the world meeting in Barcelona that June and she finished third in the 200m.
It was after another fine meet at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she took silver in the 200m and 4x100m relay, and bronze in the 50m and 100m, that Poewe decided to make use of her dual citizenship and compete for Germany.
In her first event under the German flag in December 2002 at the European Short Course, she finished with three medals, a gold in the 100m and two silvers in the 50m and 200m.
Poewe's star started to diminish at the 2003 World Championships (long course). She finished seventh, fourth and sixth in the 50, 100 and 200m, respectively. At the long course world champs in Montreal 2005, Poewe won a bronze as a member of the 4x100m medley team and made the final in the 100m.
Last August, Poewe only qualified for the finals of the 100 and 200m at the European Championships (long course).
Now that she is back in the city that shaped her career, she is hoping the coach who discovered her talent as a breaststroker will help her reap rewards at next year's Olympics.
"We are working on a specific stroke technique," she says about her training with Von Toros, which meant she is putting her studies in the US on hold until after the Olympics. "It was a difficult decision to make but hopefully it will be worth it," she says.