Read The Sydney Morning Herald
A freak training injury involving a truck tyre has left Australia’s leading women’s freestyle swimmer Mel Schlanger off her usual pace at the national titles in Adelaide.
After finishing fourth in the 100m women’s final at last year’s London Olympics after having led the 4x100m relay team to a gold medal, Schlanger could only manage sixth fastest in this morning’s heats. […]
Schlanger said she was managing the rib injury she suffered a month ago as well as possible.
“I tried to flip a truck tyre almost lost it and tried to save,” Schlanger said. “I probably should have just dropped it but the competitive edge just made me try to save it before it dropped and I felt a bit of a stabbing pain and that was it.
“That was about four weeks ago now and it’s just been about managing it the best I can ever since. I can feel it all the time, it’s just there. It hurts to breath and it hurts to swim so it’s not ideal but I’m trying to block it out as much as I can when I’m focusing on the race and the adrenalin helps to mask it a little bit.
“It’s less than ideal but I’m hoping that I can sneak through.”
