{"id":516765,"date":"2022-11-23T16:10:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T23:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=516765"},"modified":"2022-11-23T16:12:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T23:12:55","slug":"despite-shoulder-surgery-mitch-larkin-has-paris-in-his-sights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/despite-shoulder-surgery-mitch-larkin-has-paris-in-his-sights\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Despite Mitch Larkin\u2019s Painful 12 Week Ordeal Post Shoulder Surgery, Aussie Backstroking Top Gun Has Paris In His Sights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Despite Mitch Larkin\u2019s Painful 12 Week Ordeal Post Shoulder Surgery, Australia\u2019s Backstroking Top Gun Has Paris In His Sights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Olympic backstroking top gun Mitch Larkin<\/strong> has revealed for the first time the pain and anguish he swam through during this year\u2019s World Championships and Commonwealth Games campaigns which led to major surgery.<\/p>\n

Larkin \u2013 the triple Olympian, two-time Olympic medallist, a five-time world champion and seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist swam in the two biggest meets of the year with a painful four centimetre tear in his shoulder.<\/p>\n

Larkin had suffered the injury just days out from the Australian<\/a> Trials in June when he \u201cfelt his shoulder go\u201d as he and coach Vince Raleigh<\/strong> put the finishing touches to his preparation at Chandler\u2019s Brisbane Aquatic Centre.<\/p>\n

The initial diagnosis was not great, the doctor telling Larkin he thought he had sub-laxed the socket (With a subluxation, the bone may pop back into the\u00a0socket\u00a0by itself. Both subluxation and dislocation can cause similar symptoms).<\/p>\n

But Larkin, the star of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, decided to go to Adelaide and swim the Trials \u2013 throwing caution to the wind and unsure what tribulations lay ahead.<\/p>\n

\"PATRONS

BREAKING BAGUETTE MOMENT: Mitch Larkin sharing a special moment with girlfriend Sinead Cronin and 2012 Olympic team mate Jayden Hadler at the French-themed Patron’s Awards in Brisbane. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

Today marks 12 weeks since Larkin eventually underwent surgery on that shoulder \u2013 talking about his trepidations of stepping out in public for the first time with his arm in a sling\u2013 and revealing to many of his teammates what he had been through.<\/p>\n

Larkin has told his story exclusively to Swimming World<\/em> \u2013 from the time he decided to swim the Trials \u2013 to the news on his return from Birmingham two months later that he would need immediate surgery if he ever wanted to live a normal life let alone swim again.<\/p>\n

Just days after arriving home from the Commonwealth Games in August, Larkin, 29 and the veteran of three Olympics and three Commonwealth Games had an MRI scan on that troublesome right shoulder – confirming his worst fears.<\/p>\n

The scan showing that his subscapularis (subscaps) had completely ripped off the bone \u2013 and the only way to fix it would be to have it stitched back down – in a complicated process.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor surgeons to do that,\u201d said Larkin, \u201cthey had to cut my Long Head of the Biceps Tendon as well to make room for everything to be stitched on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would sew that back down and shave the bone through a groove to make room for four anchor points which have 16 smaller anchors off them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PATRONS

DOLPHINS LEADERSHIP: Mitch Larkin with fellow Dolphins leaders Bronte and Cate Campbell and Hancock Prospecting CEO Garry Korte at the Patron’s Awards. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last Saturday night a nervous Larkin stepped out at the Hancock Prospecting inaugural Patron\u2019s Awards<\/a> in Brisbane with only a handful of his closest Tokyo, Budapest and Birmingham teammates aware of his ordeal in a crowd of almost 300 people.<\/p>\n

Larkin had shown extraordinary courage \u201cswimming in pain\u201d and not only making the Australian Dolphins team for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games with his second placed finishes in the 100 and 200m at Trials \u2013 but also making two finals in Birmingham and finishing fourth in the 200m backstroke \u2013 winning gold in Australia\u2019s Mixed Medley Relay.<\/p>\n

Doctors were later amazed at what Larkin was able to achieve \u2013 shaking their heads at Larkin\u2019s ability to swim though the pain barrier.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s premier backstroker who first broke onto the Australian team for the 2012 London Olympics, would go to World\u2019s in Budapest three weeks after making the team unsurprisingly failing to make a final \u2013 knowing Birmingham would always be a better option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorld\u2019s was always going to be a challenge seeing it was a shorter turn around than usual \u2013 around three weeks \u2013 I continued to get regular physio, doing heaps of isometrics \u2013 but the shoulder was super weak in some positions,\u201d said Larkin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually didn\u2019t get much better \u2013 in fact it got a lot worse \u2013 and I raced through Commonwealth Games in a lot of discomfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PATRONS

SLING SHOT: Mitch Larkin juggling his Dolphins leadership recognition award with Hancock Prospecting CEO Garry Korte. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

So off to the Australian team doctor again after the last night of racing in Birmingham and Larkin was told it was almost certain his \u201csubscap\u201d had completely torn off the bone.<\/p>\n

Larkin came home and booked in for an immediate MRI and spoke to his surgeon that week and was booked in for an operation a week later.<\/p>\n

Larkin had a displacement tear of the subscapularis (subscap) – the surgeon telling Australia\u2019s celebrated backstroker it had detracted back some four centimetres, strongly advising the operation.<\/p>\n

Making it clear that if he had kids later in life and wanted to lift them above his head, let alone swim again, then surgery was his only option, making it clear he may never race again without the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwimming is just a part of your life and putting this into perspective if you ever have kids and want to lift them over your head in your 40s or 50s you need to get this shoulder tided up…\u201d he was told.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to swim at 90 percent and unless I had the surgery I would always sit at that 90 percent level and I would do a lot more damage the longer I left it…and in some positions I would only ever get to 50 or 60 percent…. I made the call to get it done.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut your body and in my case my arms and legs are your weapons in the water and when they fail you it\u2019s kind of pretty hard to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s going to be a challenge getting back and believe it or not I\u2019m excited to get back.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch

MAIN STREAMING: Mitch Larkin shows his impeccable streamlining with his classic underwater action shot Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photography at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI realised over the last 12 weeks that I really do miss it and it was hard at the Commonwealth Games knowing I wasn\u2019t 100 percent and I was kind of there and thought if the shoulder had held together for a few more weeks it may have been different…but hey you can\u2019t have everything…<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a tough three months and for the first six weeks it was really rough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Shayna Jack<\/strong> and said \u2018hey I get the fact that it\u2019s tough being away from swimming…it\u2019s the one thing we know and the one thing we love to do….with this surgery and the sling \u2013 I said to all my family that all the aspects of joy in my life have been taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being active, I love being in the water, I love going to the beach, and I love exercising<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first six weeks I was limited to walking 20 minutes a day and some light leg stuff in the gym…<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I couldn\u2019t get my heart rate up too high…and as an athlete that\u2019s probably the most frustrating thing…I couldn\u2019t drive, I couldn\u2019t cook, use my hands, I had to rely on my Mum and Dad to took after me in for eight weeks, which was really nice but challenging and I realised just how much I missed it…and I guess a good realisation to have…<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a time I caught up with (former team mate and fellow Olympian) David McKeon<\/strong> and ultimately his shoulder operation ended his career which was quite sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it was nice to know my doctor and physio have looked at David\u2019s re-hab plans and we have really used that as a foundation to do my re-hab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to the doctor that at the end of this and if I never make it back I can have those plans in place and that re-hab for someone else in the future…that is still a positive to come from it….\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mitch

FULL MEDAL JACKET: Mitch Larkin shows off his Gold Coast medal haul from the 2018 Commonwealth Games Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).<\/p><\/div>\n

And despite those trepidations of walking into last Saturday night\u2019s Patron\u2019s Awards Dinner, Larkin was pleased he went.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone came up and asked how I was going or what happened and it was so good to be together with the team to celebrate the team\u2019s success in Tokyo,\u201d said Larkin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was also so nice for Patron Gina Rinehart to hold her dinner to celebrate the swimmers performances and the fact that Hancock Prospecting do such a fantastic job and play a massive part in allowing us to keep training and to focus on just swimming and it played such a big role and getting us all through Covid and was such a big influence on the team swimming so well in 2021…\u201d<\/p>\n

IN BIRMINGHAM<\/strong> Larkin looked around the pool had told reporters<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like this. There\u2019s nothing like racing, nothing like the adrenaline, the passion, the vibe, the challenge, the anxiety, the stress \u2013 all that and still coming out the other side and swimming great.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to know that my property analyst job (with Trilogy Fund Management ) is the future, that is something that I really do enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you can only swim for so long and once you give it up, once you hang up your swimming togs, it\u2019s really hard to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larkin knows what he has been through is a part of elite sport and he\u2019s grateful and proud of his career and is determined to give it another good crack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors are really happy…we know it\u2019s a slow process but I\u2019ve done everything by the book and stuck to the plan,\u201d says Larkin, who is up for his next battle.<\/p>\n

And just today Larkin received some really positive news from his surgeon.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch

TOP GUN: Mitch Larkin in the winner’s circle. Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMy tendon has started to anchor back to the bone really well and is looking healthy,\u201d Larkin told Swimming World.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy next steps are just strengthening the tendon then eventually the muscles around it as well. The appointment really couldn\u2019t have gone any better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am lucky I have time on my side…the plan is to get back into the water at the end of this year or early next year and try and push for Trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if that is not enough time the plan is to go on to Paris 2024 Olympic Trials and depending on what happens that would bring an end to my career….\u201d<\/p>\n

And as Mark Twain once wrote: \u201cIt\u2019s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog….\u201d<\/p>\n

The size of the fight in Mitch Larkin is a perfect fit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Despite Mitch Larkin\u2019s Painful 12 Week Ordeal Post Shoulder Surgery, Australia\u2019s Backstroking Top Gun Has Paris In His Sights Australia\u2019s Olympic backstroking top gun Mitch Larkin has revealed for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7938,"featured_media":516777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122075],"tags":[25315,42715,65245,34441,35725,34919],"class_list":["post-516765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-oceania","tag-david-mckeon","tag-gina-rinehart","tag-hancock-prospecting","tag-mitch-larkin","tag-shayna-jack","tag-vince-raleigh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nDespite 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