Michigan senior and NCAA championships qualifier Caroline Sisson has announced her medical retirement from swimming.
Sisson, finished 36th in the 1650-yard Freestyle (16:27.93) and 46th in the 500-yard Freestyle (4:49.55) in March.
“In order to honor my body (and my brain), I have decided to medically retire from swimming. To say this was a difficult decision is an understatement. I’ve lived my life by the principle that my hobbies have never been who I am as a person, just things that I do. Unfortunately, when you do something for this long, it sometimes gets hard to separate who you are from what you do. This reality makes me all the more excited to see what life has to offer with my head above the water,” Caroline Sisson wrote on social media. “I’ve spent a lot of time grappling with what this sport has given me and what it has taken away. In the end though, the people I’ve been lucky to meet, the memories I’ve made, and the lessons I’ve learned are invaluable. I’m grateful to this sport for all of these things and for teaching me how to overcome any adversity or challenge that stands in my way.”
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At Michigan, Caroline Sisson was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten (2020-21), CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention (2020) and two-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement (2019-20) recipient. At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Sisson finished 7th in the 1650-yard Freestyle (16:15.74), 7th in the 500-yard Freestyle (4:45.23) and 20th in the 200-yard Freestyle (1:48.75).
Sisson went on to finish with a tribute to the sport that has been her passion for more than a decade.
This is my love letter to swimming, for making me into the person I am today and teaching me things that no other experience could. Not a lot of people get to spend 15 years doing something that they truly love. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones.
To the people I’ve met along the way, I’m thankful for everything. I’m thankful for all the laughs, all the memories, and especially for the special type of friendship that comes from shared suffering :).
To swimming, I love you. To my left arm that I haven’t been able to fully feel in 2 1/2 years, not so much. I’m sad and a little angry right now, but, above all, I’m grateful for this experience. It has been the juxtaposition of the most painful and rewarding moments, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m entering this new chapter excited about the challenges and change I’m going to face knowing that I have the capacity to face them.
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One correction, she had graduated from
Michigan in 3 years and in grad school at Georgetown.