Courtney Collett’s Rollercoaster Ride, Swimming With Diabetes

Photo Courtesy: Courtney Collett

By Elise Campbell, Swimming World College Intern

Courtney Collett could have hung up her suit at age twelve. She could have avoided countless hours of staring at that endless black line, permanent goggle marks and a hacking chlorine cough. No one would have blamed her. The situation was risky and out of her control. But Collett did the opposite.

Jolting News

Some moments are life changing. Collett’s moment occurred at a swim meet in Savannah, Georgia when she was 12. After recently losing a significant amount of weight, Collett’s parents took her to a doctor who ordered a blood test. The results came back just in time for her mother to pull her out of the meet, telling her she wasn’t allowed to swim anymore. Collett’s doctors had discovered she was diabetic.

She was taken to a hospital in Savannah, where they discovered her blood sugar was around 600 millimoles per liter. The normal level is between 80 and 100. Collett was very sick and her athletic dreams were crashing around her. For the sake of her health, she had to take the summer off from the sport she loved. Despite this devastating news, swimming up until this point had already given Collett a huge gift.

“My parents and I believe that swimming helped save me from going into a diabetic coma during this time because I was exercising a great amount, helping to keep my blood sugar down enough to be functional,” Collett said.

The Comeback

Upon returning to swimming in the fall, Collett had trouble balancing her blood sugar. These issues continued, forcing her to attend a private sports-oriented high school in her hometown of Hilton Head, S.C. Classes were from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with the rest of the day committed to athletics. This allowed Collett to manage her blood sugar levels before her afternoon practice.

The schedule worked.

In her junior year of high school Collett broke the South Carolina state record in the 1,650-yard freestyle, which still remains today. She achieved national and junior national time standards and received a scholarship to swim at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her swimming future was shaping up to be historic.

Photo Courtesy: Courtney Collett

Collett adjusted well to her new training and lifestyle at Miami. Her diabetes was cooperating and this translated into fast swimming. She was a top scorer at the MAC Conference Championships both freshman and sophomore year, placing top-eight in all of her events her second year. Collett looked forward to her junior year in Oxford, as she was closing in on the school record in the 500-yard freestyle.

But her health took a different route and she began having issues controlling her blood sugar. According to her doctor, Collett’s hormones had shifted, resulting in an inability to swim long practices without stopping.

“I ended up having to get out of the pool and sit there every 15-20 minutes, drinking Gatorade upon Gatorade and eating bars upon bars,” Collett said. “I used to get teased by the Miami assistant coach, Scott Usher, for always getting out and eating candy.”

Collett still churned out the times needed to make the conference team and even scored at the meet. But it wasn’t her best, so she and head coach Mark Davis had to make a plan for her final year of swimming.

Reworking the Plan

”Things just weren’t quite working the way they should be and she was really hurting. So we thought, maybe we need to take the summer off and see what that does for her,” Davis said. “But when she came back in the fall, her numbers really hadn’t changed so we were concerned for her long-term health. We made a plan where she could get in for warm up and at least part of a main set one day and do some aerobic work on the elliptical the next.”

This plan helped, but it did not fix her problems. For the first time in her collegiate career, Collett was not a part of the conference team. Her final season leading up to the meet marked a low point for Collett, because she realized things may not work out in her favor.

“This just wasn’t going to get better or be fixed overnight,” Collett said. “I had to admit that swimming was not the best thing for my health and my future. Realizing that the one thing that helped you live a great life, and ultimately saved you at the beginning, should be over is one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with.”

Photo Courtesy: Courtney Collett

A Champion’s Spirit

But Collett is a fighter by nature and she wasn’t going to let herself or her teammates down. Her last meet, held at her home pool, proved she was cut from the same cloth as champions. In Collett’s final individual swim, the 200-yard freestyle, she swam her second fastest time ever in the event. Then Collett swam a relay with her best friends and teammates, which left her in tears of joy and with a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

The thing that kept her going is also her best piece of advice for those in similar situations.

“Have a support system,” Collett said. “I had my family to talk about my diabetes with and I also relied on my friends and teammates a lot. They still cheered for me even when they knew that my swim was far from my best time and they were always there to give me a hand to stand up again. Sometimes, support is the best remedy.”

For her amazing contribution to the team and her never-ending ability to endure, Collett received the Robin Chico Award upon completing her swimming career this year. This award is given to a member of the Miami women’s swimming and diving program who has been a positive representation of the team during times of hardship and adversity.

Collett has embodied these qualities to the fullest in her time as an athlete and her story will continue to inspire countless others.

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Alan

8 years ago

I think she would have been dead with a BG of 600 mmol/l 😮 More likely she was 600 mg/dl (33 mmol/l).

Marianne Miller

8 years ago

Swimming is a good exercise for a diabetics.
I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes and put on Metformin on June 26th, 2014. I started the ADA diet and followed it 100% for a few weeks and could not get my blood sugar to go below 140. Finally i began to panic and called my doctor, he told me to get used to it. He said I would be on metformin my whole life and eventually insulin. At that point i knew something wasn’t right and began to do a lot of research. On April 13th I found this book on http://www.wje592.com/i-am-finally-free-of-diabetes/. I read the book from end to end that night because everything the writer was saying made absolute sense. I started the diet that day and the next morning my blood sugar was down to 100, the next day was in the 90’s and now i have a fasting blood sugar between Mid 70’s and the 80’s. My doctor took me off the metformin after just one week of being on this lifestyle change. I have lost over 30 pounds in a month. I now work out twice a day and still have tons of energy. I have lost 6+ inches around my waist and I am off my high blood pressure medication too. I have about 20 more pounds to go till my body finds its ideal weight. The great news is, this is a lifestyle I can live with, it makes sense and it works. God Bless the writer. I wish the ADA would stop enabling consumers and tell them the truth. You can get off the drugs, you can help yourself, but you have to have a correct lifestyle and diet. No more processed foods.

Marianne Miller

8 years ago

I like swimming, it is really a good exercise for me as as diabetics.

Marianne Miller

8 years ago

Swimming is a good exercise for a diabetics.
I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes and put on Metformin on June 26th, 2014. I started the ADA diet and followed it 100% for a few weeks and could not get my blood sugar to go below 140. Finally i began to panic and called my doctor, he told me to get used to it. He said I would be on metformin my whole life and eventually insulin. At that point i knew something wasn’t right and began to do a lot of research. On April 13th I found this book on wje592.com/i-am-finally-free-of-diabetes/. I read the book from end to end that night because everything the writer was saying made absolute sense. I started the diet that day and the next morning my blood sugar was down to 100, the next day was in the 90’s and now i have a fasting blood sugar between Mid 70’s and the 80’s. My doctor took me off the metformin after just one week of being on this lifestyle change. I have lost over 30 pounds in a month. I now work out twice a day and still have tons of energy. I have lost 6+ inches around my waist and I am off my high blood pressure medication too. I have about 20 more pounds to go till my body finds its ideal weight. The great news is, this is a lifestyle I can live with, it makes sense and it works. God Bless the writer. I wish the ADA would stop enabling consumers and tell them the truth. You can get off the drugs, you can help yourself, but you have to have a correct lifestyle and diet. No more processed foods.

Rick Paine

8 years ago

Great story on an outstanding young lady

Kristina Davis-Giles

8 years ago

Heather- great example 🙂

Heather Barcellos Vasquez

8 years ago

Good article ?