By Tito Morales<\/p>\n
November 27. SOMETIMES it\u2019s the stories that don\u2019t reach the front pages that inspire the most.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, July 13, 2004, Chris Thompson, the defending Olympic Games bronze medalist in the 1500 meter freestyle, mounted the blocks for the finals of his specialty at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Just a few months earlier, Thompson, the fastest American in history at the distance, was regarded as one of the favorites to make the team. By race day, however, Thompson had virtually become an afterthought.<\/p>\n
And, sure enough, when the gun went off, all the attention focused on Erik Vendt and Larsen Jensen as they quickly proved themselves to be the strongest in the field.<\/p>\n
Thompson, meanwhile, touched the wall in seventh place. He\u2019d finished over a pool length behind the victor, Jensen, and, to add insult to injury, Jensen had broken Thompson\u2019s American record by a tenth of a second.<\/p>\n
That Thompson was even able to compete that day, though, was remarkable in its own right. That he somehow managed to swim his way into the finals was more amazing still. Because just a few months earlier, the distance star was physically unable to even comb his own hair.
\n
\nA Plan Undone<\/b><\/p>\n
After an admittedly mediocre 2003, Thompson was more than motivated to make amends in 2004. He swam a Grand Prix meet in January and was thrilled with his early season fitness level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was getting back on track,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cThings were looking good. I was really looking forward to the Olympic Trials.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson had graduated from the University of Michigan in 2001. His career, stellar to that point, had been punctuated by national titles, NCAA championships, American records, and podium finishes at the highest levels of the sport. But he hungered for more. So he set his sights on Athens, and devoted the next few years of his post-collegiate life to putting himself into his very best shape ever.<\/p>\n
In the beginning of May, some ten weeks before the Trials, Thompson traveled to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for some intensive, highly focused training.<\/p>\n
Within days of arriving to the camp, Thompson was performing dryland exercises with the rest of the athletes, which included Vendt and Jensen. While doing a box-jumping plyometrics drill, he stumbled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put my arms out behind me to catch myself, and I landed on my hands and forearms,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cI fell backwards and hit my head. Right away my arms tensed up. I thought maybe I\u2019d just strained my forearm muscles. But I couldn\u2019t move my arms at all. They were killing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially, the OTC staff feared that Thompson had received a concussion. He was quickly ushered off for a CT scan. Fortunately, though, the test came back negative. The next concern was that he\u2019d somehow received a compression fracture in his back that was affecting the mobility of his arms. After that film was reviewed, however, that, too, was ruled out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I thought, well, I might be out three or four days. Then I\u2019ll hopefully be fine after that,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cI thought it was just muscle stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only then were x-rays taken of Thompson\u2019s elbows. The news was sobering: he\u2019d fractured not just one but both of his elbows.
\nAfter reviewing the reports and conferring with the physicians handling the case, Thompson\u2019s father, an orthopedic surgeon who lives and practices in Roseburg, Oregon, informed his son that with any luck the injuries might get better in 5-6 weeks. The worste case scenario, though, was that he\u2019d be out of commission for up to six months or maybe even longer.<\/p>\n
Rehabilitation, Reassessment & Refocus<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden you go from being one of the top three favorites to wondering whether you\u2019ll ever be able to swim again,\u201d says Thompson.<\/p>\n
His first few days after the accident were the worst.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t lift my arms at all,\u201d says Thompson. The pain was excruciating. \u201cIt was impossible to even feed myself or change my clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elbow injuries such as those Thompson sustained are best left treated without applying casts. The patient needs to quickly try to regain range of motion — not limit it. So within days of the accident, Thompson, his elbows swollen and aching, was in a rehabilitation pool working on arm movement exercises.<\/p>\n
Each day he tried to push himself to accomplish just a little more than the day before. He knew the clock was ticking on his Olympic dreams. Once he finally managed to make it back into a swimming pool, he still faced monumental obstacles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent a lot of time just kicking with my arms at my sides,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
As each week of therapy came and went, and he could feel his fitness level begin to deteriorate, Thompson had to confront reality. He was running out of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a distance swimmer, 90 percent of it is training and the work,\u201d he says. \u201cLooking back, there was no way I was going to be able to get the work done in time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tht's not to say that Thompson didn\u2019t try. In addition to an inordinate amount of kicking sets, he cross-trained on a stationary bike. But for competitive swimmers, and especially distance specialists, there\u2019s simply no substitute for 2-4 daily hours of quality pool time. The first thing to go is one\u2019s feel for the water; the next is the conditioning.<\/p>\n
By essentially being forced out of the water for five to six weeks, Thompson was left with just four weeks to prepare for Trials. Even when he did resume his training, the freestyle motion was painful on either one or both of his elbows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just getting in and trying to finish workouts,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d spent years patiently building a training foundation which he hoped would catapult him to another Olympic Games. It all came undone, however, because of a training mishap.<\/p>\n
Rather than throw in the towel, however, Thompson had the maturity to step back and look at the big picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point you just have to reevaluate the goals for the season,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cI went from wanting to make the Olympic team to wanting to swim at Trials. I just wanted to make it to Long Beach.\u201d
\n
\nCompeting for the Sake of Competing<\/b><\/p>\n
That Thompson showed up in Long Beach pretty much says it all about his focus throughout a very trying rehabilitation during which he struggled to make himself into a semblance of the swimmer he was before his accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter college I\u2019d put off a couple of more years of my life to train for the 2004 Trials,\u201d he says matter-of-factly, without a hint of remorse in his voice. \u201cI wasn\u2019t about to let a setback ten weeks out ruin those plans. I was going to go to Trials to do the best that I could.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t as if Thompson had never swum in a Trials before. It wasn\u2019t as if he had to somehow save face in the eyes of the swimming community. Countless others, given his situation, would simply have chosen to stay home. To Thompson, though, not competing was really never an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no other choice for me to take,\u201d he explains. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to just quit. That\u2019s not how I operate. I stick with things and focus and try to stay going strong the whole way through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Somehow Thompson was able to hold each 50 meters in the mid- to high-31\u2019s in the preliminaries of the 1500 meters. His ability to do so sheds light on what his fitness level must have been like before his accident. Despite all he\u2019d been through, Thompson touched the wall 11th and he just missed making the finals by a little over two seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s weird not having things work properly for you,\u201d Thompson says.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re used to having a certain turnover, and being able to pull water, and all of a sudden it all feels funny. Things were just not working right.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the morning of the last day of competition — some five or six hours before the finals of the 1500 — Thompson learned that one swimmer after another seeded ahead of him had scratched until he had suddenly moved from 11th position to 8th. He was offered the opportunity to compete in the finals. And, true to his nature, he jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do the experience and show people that I might not be 100 percent, but at least I\u2019m here at Trials and at least I\u2019m there pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson, or course, realized even before he peeled off his sweats that the chances of him advancing to Athens were remote. But that didn\u2019t stop him from trying.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that disappointed me the most was that this was Jon\u2019s last hurrah,\u201d says Thompson, referring to long-time University of Michigan and Club Wolverine coach Jon Urbanchek\u2019s recent retirement. \u201cAfter spending years of swimming under him, I was disappointed that I wasn\u2019t able to go out better for him. Unfortunately, I wasn\u2019t healthy enough to do it for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Truth be told, however, Thompson\u2019s efforts in Long Beach — and the simple fact that he twice willingly stepped into the ring even when he knew deep in his heart that he wasn\u2019t competing at his best — is precisely the type of courageous performance that Urbanchek probably would be most proud of.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to swim hard when all the conditions are in your favor. It\u2019s another thing altogether, though, to do so when circumstances are less than ideal.
\n
\nGoals for the Future<\/b><\/p>\n
Thompson is currently in Dubai representing the United States in the Third FINA Open Water World Championships.<\/p>\n
Though he admits his strength and fitness levels are still only about 80% of where he\u2019d like them to be, he\u2019s encouraged by the progress he\u2019s made since his earliest days of rehabilitation and he\u2019s looking forward to 2005.<\/p>\n
He turns 26 at the end of November and he\u2019s eager to put 2004 behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have some goals that I hope I can accomplish,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cI have such a good time swimming. I still want to give myself some opportunities to swim fast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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