Kim Brennan calls it "the new juggle". But after trading life on the water for the normality of a 9-5 job, the Olympic Games champion says she's still weighing up whether to retire or reignite her career.

Brennan's life has transformed in the past 12 months after winning gold in the single sculls at the Rio Olympics and carrying the Australian flag into the closing ceremony.

She will celebrate the one-year anniversary of her golden moment next week while working at Ernst and Young and slipping into a new life behind a desk.

Brennan has buried thoughts of retirement or a decision on her rowing future to soak up the enjoyment of exercising for fun rather than the pressure of an Olympic pursuit.

The 31-year-old knows deep down it's almost time to make a call on whether she will launch a campaign to compete in Tokyo in 2020 and admits delaying it for too long will make it too hard to catch her rivals.

"It's gone so quickly since last year, and in a way it's hard to relate to 'Kim the rower'," Brennan said.

"I cannot imagine right now having the mental strength to sit on the start line at an Olympic Games and push my body to the limit.

"I feel those pressures and expectations in a different space now. I really feel like I've broadened what I'm capable of as a person by taking up new challenges.

"At the moment I really love my job [at Ernst and Young] ... I haven't made a final call on whether I will go back to sport or not. For now, I'm just enjoying being a normal person.

"Realistically, the way sport is now, taking a year out is very hard to come back in. It would be a little naive to think you could come back in after a significant amount of time and be competitive.

"I've got to find the right time to make that decision. Right now I've been focused on giving myself the chance to succeed at something else and enjoy life as a normal person.

"The formalities of whether I will still compete or retire, I'll think about that down the track."

Brennan was at Manuka Oval on Wednesday for the launch of the Canberra sports award nomination process.

Brennan was crowned the capital's female athlete of the year after her Rio success on August 14 last year.

The two-time world champion led the women's single scull final from start to finish, snapping an eight-year gold-medal drought for Australian rowers at the Olympics.

If that was her last race for Australia, it would be a fitting way to end a glittering career as a three-time Olympian.

But for now Brennan has channelled her energy into different areas since, working at Ernst and Young and trading her oars for a bike to ride around Canberra.

She will also be Australia's chef de mission at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

"Being chef de mission is about giving back to sport in a different way," Brennan said.

"I've been able to turn my mind to things I am passionate about, like youth in sport and giving people the same opportunities I've been lucky enough to have.

"It's a new juggle for me. Rather than having as much time to train as you want, it's about fitting in exercise around a full-time job.

"It's a lot harder than I anticipated. But it's refreshing. Having weekends is such a novelty ... I'm coming from a sport that for 10 or 11 years I didn't have a holiday or a weekend.

"Being able to have some flexibility in my life is really, really nice."

The Canberra sports awards will be held on December 1 at the National Arboretum. Nominations for the people's sporting champion will open in the coming months.