Set Back or Comeback!

James has had a whirlwind spring and early summer swim season. So much swimming that he is currently injured. After many sleepless nights we have found out that it is tendinitis and although this diagnosis is not fantastic it is certainly better than it could have been. This blog is some advice for other swimmers and parents. I have learned a lot in a short amount of time and although he has fantastic coaches I think sometimes they do not think about the physical limitations of the swimmers. As a parent you need to be proactive and you need to be vocal about what is best for your swimmer. I had some concerns but did not vocalize them and I wish I had.

It is hard to say no to a big competition but I wish I had cut out one of the competitions. While they all where great experiences for James it was one huge event after another and as a distance swimmer he just wore himself out. He swam 1650's all short course season along with the 500 Free and the 200 Butterfly all super hard on the shoulders. Then he went to a 7.5 Kilometer at Open Water and then a 5 Kilometer for Zones. Although I call him "Aqua-man" he is not a super hero just a young man and even though he is one of the toughest kids I know, I am his mom and should have followed my gut. I cannot go back in time but maybe what I have learned can help another swimmer or parent.

When the soreness first started we began icing and using heat. James went for massage and would continue rolling out and stretching. It began in his left shoulder (dominate hand) then would switch to the right. Currently the left is worse and it became so bad that he could not pull. This is when I decided to get him into a doctor. Thank goodness for the Andrews Institute and Dr. Bookout they saw us very quickly. Dr. Bookout said while he is not going to limit his swimming activity that he will heal quicker the more rest he gives the tendons. James has only been kicking for about a week and we are hopeful that later this week he can start some stroke work again. He will be going to physical therapy starting this week and then we will know more. At home we are icing a lot, doing massage, James is doing some band work, stretching, rolling and he is on ibuprofen for a total of two weeks. Today he told the Chief of the Pensacola Beach Lifeguards about his injury and he is taking a leave of absence from his work until he feels better. We go back in six weeks for a follow up and hopefully he will be fully healed by then.

I want to thank all of our swimmer people for their support and advice. Some of the advice that helped a lot came from our Pace High Swim Coach (Amy Wolfendan) and other mom's from the team. One trick I learned that really helped is to fill Dixie cups or Styrofoam cups 3/4 of the way with water and then freeze. Once frozen you tear off some of the paper or Styrofoam and massage the ice into the injury in circular motions. I have been doing this to James once a day and he says while it is cold it does help his shoulders feel better. (Thank you Amy and Melanie Hadder for this tip.) One of my long time swimmer friends Karla Barkley who is a Physical Therapist helped me out a lot and one thing she recommended was Arnicare Gel. I massage this into James shoulder after I ice it using the cup method. This seems to help alleviate some of the pain. Many others have given us encouragement and advice I wish to thank everyone for their help.

JT will need to be proactive the rest of his swim career. Band work, icing, massage and stretching will need to become a regular part of his work out routine. I think one of the most important things I have learned from all this is that even though your swimmer has qualified to swim it does not mean that he or she has to compete in every competition.

James really wants to compete at the Southeastern Swimming Championship in mid July. We will see how he feels in the next week and go from there. I need to think about what is best for him long term and with high school season approaching he needs to think about that as well. James is no different from any other teenager sometimes they do not know when to back off and as a mom it is my job to sometimes say I think you need to rest. The Tracey's have learned a valuable lesson sometimes more is to much.