Four hour shoulder operation a success for Olympic great Petria Thomas

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Australian swimming great Petria Thomas’ shoulders have served her well, carrying her to three Olympic gold and eight Commonwealth Games gold medals in a stellar career but they have also been her worst nightmare.

The 43-year-old is at present in Deakin Private Hospital in Canberra recovering from a four-hour shoulder replacement surgery on her right shoulder – her fourth major shoulder operation.

The recently appointed General Manager of High Performance at Gymnastics Australia after a HP career with the AIS and Swimming Australia and the recently appointed first ever female Chef de Mission on an Australian Commonwealth Games team for Birmingham in 2020 will spend the rest of the week in hospital before undergoing rehabilitation.

Thomas, who was one of the real stars of the 2004 Athens Olympics, breaking through for her well deserved individual gold in the women’s 100m butterfly, had overcome double shoulder surgery post the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and further surgery which forced her out of the 2003 Barcelona World Championships.

Thomas posted on Facebook yesterday that she was not looking her best lying in her hospital bed, but that the major surgery had been a success.

ALL LAID UP: A buoyant Petria Thomas in Deakin Hospital. Photo Courtesy: Petria Thomas (Facebook)

“Thankfully (I’m) not in too much pain after my shoulder replacement surgery today, which went well,” Thomas wrote.

“Nearly four hours under the knife though! Got a good report from both the anesthetist and my surgeon.

“My shoulder was very arthritic so (I) defiantly made the right decision to get a new one!

“(It’s) going to be a boring few days in hospital but I’ve got Season One and Two of ‘The Crown’ lined up and ready to go.”

Thomas, also inducted into the ISHOF, will go down in the annals of Australian sport as without doubt one of the toughest individuals ever to wear the green and gold Olympic Speedos.

Recovering and coming back from her three previous surgeries during her celebrated career was testament to the shy, softly spoken, yet determined country girl from Mullumbimby on the NSW north coast who was rescued by the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, where she thrived.

Thomas went on to join 1996 Olympic gold medallist Susie O’Neill on the podium winning a silver in a memorable 1-2 finish for Australia in the 200m butterfly in Atlanta before being a major part of Australia’s Sydney 2000 campaign where she won bronze in the 200m butterfly, adding silvers in the 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay.

But it was in Athens in 04 where Thomas, after further shoulder surgery, celebrated her crowning glory – adding that elusive individual gold – beating Poland’s Otylia Jedrzejczak, defending champion and the brilliant Dutchwoman Inje de Bruijn in a race that saw her team mate Jessicah Schipper fourth and US legend Jenny Thompson, fifth.

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OLYMPIC GOLD for Petria Thomas. Photo Courtesy: Sport The Library

And she was an absolute powerhouse in an Australian engine room that gatecrashed the world’s best to win gold in both the 4x100m freestyle (with Libby Trickett, Jodie Henry and Alice Mills) and the 4x100m medley (with Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones and Henry).

And this latest surgery will be far from a set back for the unstoppable Thomas as she undertakes her three new roles in Australian sport, under Director, HP Strategy and Engagement, Andrew Logan with Gymnastics Australia, her Chef’s role for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and as a member of the ASADA athlete advisory committee launched at a leadership in sport conference at the University of Canberra recently.

Thomas is the first female to hold the Chef de Mission’s role, at a Commonwealth Games, having been Steve Moneghetti’s understudy at the Gold Coast Games in 2018.

GOLDEN CELEBRATION: Petria Thomas (centre) with Athens Team mates Elka Graham (left) and Brooke Hanson at the 2004 Closing Ceremony. Photo Courtesy: Hanson Media Collection.

She shone in the pool at her three Commonwealth Games, winning a total haul of nine gold, two silver and one bronze after making her debut at the ’94 Victoria Games in Canada, followed by Kuala Lumpur inn 1998 and Manchester in 2002 – where she won five gold.

Thomas said working with Moneghetti, who was the chef de mission at the past three Commonwealth Games, had prepared her for the role, saying it had been great being able to learn from the great marathon man at the last few games and to see the way he conducts himself and the way he leads the team.

“In many respects I really relate to that. It was never about Monas, it was always about the team, “said Thomas.

COLOUR RUN: Petria Thomas with Steve Moneghetti. Photo Courtesy:Daily Telegraph

Thomas is also a strong anti-drugs campaigner saying on her ASADA appointment that she would urge anti-doping bodies to close the gap between themselves and drug cheats to protect the integrity of sport.

“Unfortunately I swam in an era when there was a lot of Chinese athletes caught for doping at that time,” Thomas said.

“I swam against another swimmer that was later suspended for tampering with a sample after the 1996 Olympic Games. I have certainly experienced it firsthand, in terms of what it’s like to be competing in an era when drugs are affecting the outcome.

“That was disappointing, as it is now, that the drug cheats are quite often just one step in front of the authorities that are trying to maintain that level playing field.”

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