Swimming through sickness to success

Chelsey Edwards at the Age Group Nationals in March. View more swimming photos at Dave Lintott Photography by clicking on the photo.

​Swimmer Chelsey Edwards returned from the Junior Commonwealth Games recently with a gold medal, but explains that accolade wasn’t the only highlight of her trip to the Bahamas.
 
“The team environment was awesome. Everybody supported each other and you could easily tell the New Zealanders in the crowd. We are really noisy,” the Chilton Saint James School (Lower Hutt) swimmer laughs.
 
Ironically Edwards, a member of the 4x200m freestyle mixed relay team, was a loner for much of the event. A serious virus consigned Chelsey to bed for several days.
 
“We arrived five days before competition and had two practices a day and I felt good. As the competition got closer I started to get sick. I was really nasal and had to be isolated from my teammates. I was struggling with the temperature and felt pretty bad,” Chelsey complains.

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Chelsey was forced to revise her individual program as a result of the illness withdrawing from the 800m freestyle and failing to reach the final of the 200m and 400m freestyle.
 
Edwards was assigned the task of swimming the last leg of the 4x200m freestyle mixed relay. A weak link in the Kiwi chain could have been costly.
 
“I got better before the race, but I wasn’t 100%. I was so lucky we had a great team. We went from fastest to slowest and built a lead from the start. I was nervous on the last leg, but the lead was quite large. I was determined to swim well and actually went quicker than my individual race,” Chelsey reflects.
 
Remarkably it’s not the first time she has battled sickness for triumph. In April at the New Zealand Age Group Championships the 16-year-old developed a debilitating chest infection which went on to impair her breathing in all six of her races.
 
Despite the handicap Chelsey managed to win five medals, including gold in the 200m freestyle.
 
“I am not sure why I get sick just before meets. It’s really annoying, but I guess the nine trainings a week teaches you discipline and toughness, “Chelsey responds when asked to explain her resistance.
 
“I get a buzz out of achieving goals so you just battle through it, “she continued.
 
Chelsey began swimming at the age of six and was so impressive in her early lessons she was fast tracked to an older class. Her first competitive breakthrough was at the age of 12 when she won seven medals at the New Zealand Age Group Championships.

​Last October, she won five gold and four silver medals at the national short course championships, as well placing second among all ages for the 200m freestyle.
 
Gary Hollywood was the coach of the New Zealand team in the Bahamas. The vastly experienced campaigner described these Junior Commonwealth Games as a career highlight.
 
“We won 31 medals and 20 of those medals were in swimming. It’s been a tough time for the sport lately with funding cuts, but I am really proud of these young swimmers who performed so strongly. We tried to make a home away from the water in the Bahamas and I think we succeeded.”