The Morning Swim Show, Dec. 15, 2011: Prostate Cancer Surgery Has Not Deterred Bob Strand From Excellence in Pool

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 15. BOB Strand has had a rollercoaster of a year, and on today's edition of The Morning Swim Show he talks about being diagnosed with prostate cancer and his subsequent return to the pool.

He talks about recovering from surgery, the importance of getting tested and why his swims earlier this month have him excited for 2012. Watch the full show in the video player below and visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.

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Show Transcript: (Note: This is an automated service where some typos and grammatical errors may occur.)

Peter Busch: Welcome to the Morning Swim show for Thursday, December 15 2011. I'm your host Peter Busch. In the FINIS monitor today well talk to Bob Strand. He just turned 65 and celebrated by breaking 3 Masters world records in his age group. Bob joins us right now from the FINIS monitor from Eagle, Idaho. Hey Bob welcome to the Morning Swim Show. How are you?

Bob Strand: I'm really good Peter and thanks for inviting me to be on the show.

Peter Busch: Pleasure to have you. Where is Eagle, Idaho?

Bob Strand: Eagle, Idaho is about 78 miles from Boise up in bronco country. Football country.

Peter Busch: I thought you were California guy.

Bob Strand: Yeah actually I just move up here about 4 months ago from Pasadena and I'm adjusting to being about 15 degrees today.

Peter Busch: So you are going in the opposite direction of most people.

Bob Strand; Yeah, you might say that. I have an eight year old daughter were in a more better school district than Pasadena. And it's really a cool town up here so we're really happy to be here.

Peter Busch: Very cool. Well the cold there will keep you young.

Bob Strand: It will keep you awake I tell you that.

Peter Busch: 8 year old daughter?

Bob Strand: Yeah I have a 45- year-old daughter also. So I got around twice.

Peter Busch: Yeah well the same could be said for your swimming career right? I mean you take a big gap in the middle. But you're great at the beginning, great at the end right?

Bob Strand: Yeah I actually that's very true. I was out of the water for 25 years. I was a national champion age group swimmer and then got back into Masters when I was 44 years old. And been swimming masters and obviously been ever since.

Peter Busch: Why after 25 years did you jump back in?

Bob Strand: You actually as I think a lot of Masters do I was at a low point in my life I think, and a friend of mine said "Hey come down to the YMCA and left some weights with me. I said ok and I went down with him and there was a swimming pool and I smelled that chlorine and I said I gotta get back in here. And it was an amazing thing to go to my first swim meet, and couldn't that it was possible that I can be back swimming. And the feeling just I did when I was a kid. I was just as excited as I was then.

Peter Busch: Isn'tit just tremendous that this old feeling keep running back. The adrenaline is pumping and just feels fantastic.

Bob Strand: Well it's exactly the same. You know, in fact the first nationals I went to which is only about 4 months after I started swimming, I said to myself, I'm looking around, I mean this is serious business you know people — if anybody has a perception that USMS swimming is light weight, go to national and see how serious it is. Or go to worlds and see how serious it is. So you better do your training and Rowdy was saying the other day. He gets just as nervous now as he did when he was a kid.

Peter Busch: Talk about things that keep us young right?

Bob Strand: Exactly. Follow that black line in the bottom of the pool you know on a day when you don't you where you at or life's kicking you in the tail little bit. It's really nice to just go to the swimming pool, go somewhere that you really understand.

Peter Busch: Well you're obviously swimming fast, still breaking masters world records. But I know it's been a pretty challenging past year for you. Tell us about the little bout you had with cancer.

Bob Strand: Well you know, I think like a lot of athletes I think we all think we are indestructible and that we can overcome anything and we can power over anything. And I had gone for my yearly check-up, which everybody should have, and I got my blood work to take to the blood people and I let it sit on my desk for three months before I even took it in and I had an elevated PSA count which is a prostate antigen count that indicates that there could be some kind of problems. And mine was high enough that my personal doctor recommend that I go see a cancer doctor, which I did, and long story short went through the initial examinations and went through a rather painful biopsy, and came up with a fairly aggressive prostate cancer. And after you have that biopsy you can't have any surgery or any radiation or anything for about 6 weeks until the prostate comes down from the biopsy. So I asked my doctor, one of the first things I asked him was "Hey I've got Mesa coming up. Is it OK that I swim in the nationals?" And he said "Yeah we can't do anything about this anyway now." So actually I went to Mesa in, what was that late April or first of May, and I came back the very next week and had my prostate removed. And when the remove the prostate they do a pathology on it and the cancer had gotten out of the prostate. And that's when you can get in trouble. Prostate cancer is a very slow-growing disease as long as it stays within the prostate. Mine got out to a certain extent. I'd like to point out that about 35.000 men in the US die every year of prostate cancer. And I think part of the reason for that is the examinations aren't very comfortable. The biopsies are certainly not very comfortable. Some of the after effects of prostate surgery can be sexual dysfunction or urination issues and things like that. And I think a lot of men are afraid to go down to that road. Yet again the PSA test is such a simple part of any blood scan. And if there is any elevation in it of significance it doesn't necessary mean you have cancer. But at least it alerts you to the fact that there's something going on in your prostate.

Peter Busch: So where are you today? What's the status of your health?

Bob Strand: Status today is I'm taking a PSA test every three months. It has to basically be zero. .001 would be as high as they would like. If it starts to elevate at all, then radiation would be the next step. Because then once it gets out if it out. Then it can go to any part of the body. So it becomes a much more serious situation.

Peter Busch: Bob, we certainly hope that it does not come to that. It's been a remarkable comeback story already in the pool. We don't want to see another one outside of the pool. But it's showing the perseverance and grit that's probably making you a great swimmer that you are.

Bob Strand: Well I appreciate that. I had just a couple of months of training. I was out of the water for about three and a half months. And Long Beach was a lot of fun. Once again I realize that I need to swim swim meets. I wasn't that sharp down there personally. I always want to better and I think there's a better swims coming. So you know I'm just gonna be training and hoping for good things.

Peter Busch: Bob, good luck with this second chance that you've been given. I know you making the best for it. And thank you very much for helping us kinda spread the awareness about men and making sure making sure they get their prostate checked.

Bob Strand: Well thank you Peter. I really appreciate Swimming World inviting me on.

Peter Busch: Alright, that's Bob Strand joining us in the FINIS monitor today from Idaho. And that is it for today's show I'm Peter Busch reminding you to keep your head down at the finish.

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