Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

See Who I Am

Soundtrack to My Life – Track twenty-one

So, after Beijing I had to have two lots of surgery on my shoulder – it was pretty wrecked. My surgeon pretty much told me my swimming career was over. I was upset at first, but in my mind I had a feeling it might not be true. So, I worked hard at my rehab.

I took most of 2009 off to recover, going for few swims towards the end of the year. I felt good in the water. Really good. The World Championships were in 2010 and I was very tempted.

I found myself a coach and started training for the trials, which went really well. I made the team at the first time of asking. Job done, here I go to another World Champs.

I wasn’t expecting to do very well. But getting there I discovered that the girl that beat me in Beijing had also had a year off through injury but I’d obviously recovered better. So, I beat her and became World Champion once again.

Just like in Beijing, I had one song on repeat before I raced. Again, I chose it because it sounded good. But maybe I needed to know that the world was in my hands:

See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
And show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands.

This is not the end.

Within Temptation – See Who I am

So, I was number one again. Could I go for gold in London 2012? Nope, because they removed my 50m back race from the Paralympics. The end!