Making graceful strides in the Olympic pools often comes with a lot of physical and mental baggage. These injuries that accompany the all-pervasive sport of swimming can often dent an athlete’s sheen. But for one 27-year-old swimmer, she’s risen above her injury with sunny optimism, all while giving her fans a slice of life recovery sneak peek from the comfort of her hospital bed.

While this temporary setback might drive her Paris Olympics plans into the wrench, the Rio gold medalist is anything but weak. The Crohn’s disease afflicted swimmer re herniated a disc in her body, leading to a compression of the nerve. Taking to documenting her injury ridden woes and subsequent convalescence, how exactly has she proven that she’s all substance as well as grit?

Who knew that a hospital could be a positive sanatorium? – swimmer attests

And, the moment of relief came today. Once again, Kathleen took it to her official Instagram account to connect with her spectators. Alongside a couple of pictures with doctors, she penned, “It’s all fun and games until the pain meds wear off. Recovering after last week’s spinal surgery to fix my herniated disc”

Now, spectators are praying for her speedy recovery as the 2024 Paris Olympic trials are scheduled to commence from 15 to 23rd June this year. And, these trials play a significant role on the road to Paris as it awards Olympic berths to the top contenders. But will she be able to make a comeback after the injury to an event that’s just a stone’s throw away?

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Even though her comeback is still doubtful, she assured everyone as she added, “Had the best surgeon to help me get back on my feet and back to swimming, surfing, and working out.“ This will be her second Olympics after the eventful 2016 Rio wherein she accomplished silver in 100m backstroke and gold in 4×100 relay. Now you might think, why is it the second Olympic appearance after 2016? Why didn’t she perform in 2021?

Overcoming adversities a la the Kathleen Baker way

Kathleen Baker missed out on the Olympics as she could not qualify for the Olympic berth back then. But why? Something similar happened before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as she injured her foot ahead of the trials. But she fell short of competing for the venerable slot at the land of the rising sun. Indeed, she is stronger than anyone might think.

She is not only sustaining the repercussions of her sporting career but also sailing smoothly with her Crohn’s disease, a debilitating condition. She was 12 when she was diagnosed with this unique chronic bowel illness. “I went from breaking national age group records at 12 to not being able to do a whole practice due to straight up exhaustion and symptoms I was having,” Baker once told Popsugar in an interview, because of the underlying symptoms plaguing her.

Her disease often causes unbearable abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, intense weight loss and fatigue. However, for the North Carolina native, this pales in comparison to her passion for swimming. As she went on to accomplish feats of strength, the last 15 years have been gruelling for her, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Will the behemoth games see her chart greener pastures? Time will tell.