New Zealand Olympic Finalist Lewis Clareburt Fractures Arm

Lewis Clareburt New York Breakers ISL by Mike Lewis D5D_7008
Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis / ISL

New Zealand Olympic Finalist Lewis Clareburt Fractures Arm

New Zealand Olympian Lewis Clareburt fractured his arm in a skateboarding accident, an injury that will keep from training fully for at least the next month.

Clareburt, 23, was injured two weeks ago, reports 1News in his home country. He fell awkwardly on his arm, fracturing the radial head in his right arm. The injury didn’t show up on the initial scan and was only caught upon further examination.

He does not require a cast, but he can’t bear weight on the arm, which means that he’ll be restricted to kick sets only for the time being.

“Out of all the possibilities, this is reasonably minor. I’m already feeling a lot better,” Clareburt said in an interview with 1News.

Clareburt is coming off a strong summer. He won gold in the Commonwealth Games in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley and grabbed silver in the 200 IM. At last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, he set national records and made the final in both IMs. At the 2021 FINA World Championships, he finished fourth in the 400 IM, 3.5 seconds off the medal stand, and seventh in the 200 IM. He had won bronze in the 400 IM at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju.

Clareburt had been in Australia training for the 2022 Lifesaving World Championships, taking place this week in Italy. The injury forced him to withdraw from the Black Fins, the New Zealand national delegation, for that event.

“If it was going to happen, now is the best time,” Clareburt said. “It’s the end of a busy season, I’d probably be on a break anyway.”

The native of Wellington is aiming to return to competition later in the fall. The Queensland State Championships in December is a goal on his horizon.

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GlennB
GlennB
1 year ago

So it sounds as if Lewis is planning to stay training in Australia? What happened to his Irish coach Gary?

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