When Paige McKenna claimed the NCAA championship in the 1650 free last March, she knew her biggest fight was still ahead. The Wisconsin swimmer had two torn labrums in her hips during the title race, which she won in 15:40.84, and one of them needed to be a addressed quickly.
“Two weeks after NCAAs, I was having a hard time walking around campus,” McKenna told Swimming World. “They basically went in and took the labrum around my hip and sewed it back up. Both of my hips are torn but I only got the left done because it was so bad. I was told I wouldn’t last another season with my left hip. I got cortisone shots which helped for a while, but I finally decided to get surgery.”
That is an awful lot of pain to deal with, especially swimming a mile at a championship level.
“Honestly, I don’t even know (how I was able to handle it),” McKenna said. “My athletic trainer (Estefania Zavala) has been a huge part of this. We had a pre-meet ritual stretching the hip before every meet. I think when I got in the water, I just didn’t think about it. In the middle of the race, my hips started to hurt.
“But I think the adrenaline of being in the moment, thinking about my teammates cheering and my family in the stands helped me not think about them.
“I was really shocked afterward. I wasn’t really processing what just happened. It was my first season and I didn’t really know what to expect. I was totally shocked that I won. Sometimes I am still like, ‘I actually did that.’”
It is still something McKenna is struggling to wrap her head around, especially with the injury and rehab focus.
“I was able to see something in myself I didn’t know I had,” she said. “I didn’t know I could push through the way I did. It shows that you can really do anything if you put your mind and effort into something. It was really important to me. I hadn’t dropped in the mile much and Big Tens really gave me that confidence boost going into NCAAs.”
Now, that performance at NCAAs is pushing her through rehabbing after the surgery. McKenna is cleared to compete but still isn’t doing the workload she would be if she was 100 percent.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The healing process began after her surgery in April and has slowly continued into her sophomore season at Wisconsin.
“It was a little rough over the summer. I got cleared to swim and I was just in an endless pool for a couple of weeks. That got pretty boring after a while. I was able to swim in the pool without flip turns or push off the wall or kick. So I was pulling for about an hour each practice,” McKenna said. “By the time the season started, I was cleared to compete. I am slowly getting back into shape. I have been starting to train IM, which I wasn’t allowed to do last year. It is hard coming back from an injury, but everyone has been really supportive. Our distance group is supportive and we all practice together, which makes it easier.”
Of course, none of this is easy.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to put too much pressure on myself this year. Obviously, I would love to defend the title, but given everything I have been through, I am really not going to worry about it that much. If it happens, it happens. If not, I know I tried my best under the circumstances,” McKenna said.
That attitude sounds simple, but any time a huge physical injury takes a toll, there is a mental toll that accompanies it. That is something McKenna continues to battle.
“Mental health has been a big focus of mine,” McKenna said. “I posted something on Instagram. It is always good to talk about. I feel like college athletes and mental health, the topic really isn’t talked about enough. I have struggled with it and continue to, being injured. I struggle thinking if I am doing enough. Our coaching staff is good at checking in with the athletes. It is really important. We need to put more of a focus on it. Anxiety of letting the team down because I am not swimming as well. Depression because I missed so much swimming and it is hard to come back from that.”
But McKenna said talking about it has been extremely beneficial. Now she can focus on her swimming and specific mini goals, rather than worrying about her performances.
“Short-term, it is getting back to the level of fitness I was at. I want to be able to get close to those times,” McKenna said. “Long-term, I have thought about it a lot. But I am not really sure. I feel like a lot of swimmers have a goal to go to the Olympics. I have been thinking about that since I was young. That is in the back of my mind, of course, but we will see where I am for the upcoming trials.”
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Yay! Go Paige! You did so well last year at NCAA