Martin Rogers

USA TODAY Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO – Maya DiRado spent part of the hours leading up to the biggest, most emotional and final competitive swim of her life in a way that, frankly, is kind of weird for an elite Olympian.

Before producing a major upset to down swimming superwoman Katinka Hosszu in the 200-meter backstroke, DiRado, a 23-year-old with a Stanford degree in management science and engineering, got to grips with how to file expense reports, examined analytic module programs and went over her corporate travel schedule

“I start on September 9,” DiRado said, less than an hour after claiming gold. She wasn’t talking about a new training program, or getting ready for Tokyo in 2020 or even taking a long-earned vacation.

No, DiRado will begin a career with McKinsey and Co., a management consulting firm, and end her swimming career.

What a way to end it. DiRado has brainpower in spades, she skipped second grade because it was too easy, got a perfect score on her math SAT at the age of 15 and the type of position she accepted is certainly not for dummies. Scratch that, it is the kind of job that uses terms that make the rest of us feel like dummies.

“I am looking forward to it and there were some things I had to do to get ready,” DiRado said. “I was going over it in the afternoon. When I sent one email in to the company, they sent one back saying ‘congratulations, it has been fun to watch you.’”

It was not all work though, not yet, as DiRado also faced a battle to keep her feelings in check. While she never planned to be a career swimmer, the sport has given her remarkable memories and at these Games, four medals including two golds.

This was the pick of the bunch. Hosszu is a genuine star and one of the most powerful swimmers in the world, having taken three golds so far in the meet. The Hungarian went out strong and was still ahead going into the last 10 meters. But DiRado found an extra burst to win in 2:05:99, six-hundredths of a second ahead.

It had been an emotional day. ‘There were a lot of tears,” DiRado added in a press conference. “I knew that this was my last chance and at the same time I wanted to be able to enjoy all the little pieces.”

She paused for a moment and the line of questioning moved on. “I enjoyed this,” she said under her breath.