When Sam Short’s body failed him at the Olympics, so did his mind.
The Australian swimmer, cruelled by injury and illness, felt like a failure at last year’s Paris Games.
Short was a gold medal favourite in the 400m freestyle but finished fourth, missing the podium by 0.14 seconds – a finger nail, as he puts it.
The Queenslander was also a medal fancy in the 800m and 1500m freestyles, but didn’t make the finals of those events in Paris.
“In the eyes of myself and my team around me, we can all admit it was a ‘failure’,” Short posted, in part, on Instagram on return to Australia.
But there were reasons – unexplained during the Olympics, as a dejected Short shunned any public comment.
He was ill.
Suffering gastro at Australia’s trials some five weeks before the Olympics, Short lost five kilograms in weight.
Instead of recuperating, he continued to go hard at training, to the detriment of his “cooked” immune system.
He was also injured.
In January of the Olympic year, Short suffered a torn muscle in a shoulder while also managing tendonitis.
Every stroke – he’d do about 1000 of them over eight kilometres every training session – hurt.
Post-Olympics, Short knew his body would eventually heal.
“I was rehabbing my shoulder, two months out of the water,” he said in Adelaide at Australia’s selection trials for the looming world championships.
“Seven months ago, I was 10 kilos heavier than I am now.”
But healing his mind was another matter.
“It took me a while,” Short said.
“I did a lot of work with sports psychology just trying to make my mind stronger.”
Short had previously rejected psychological help, thinking it was a sign of weakness. Now, it’s a strength.
“Literally, come January 1st (this year), I was: next chapter, world championships,” Short said.
“That’s what I’m thinking about.
“Just trying to enjoy racing, race fast, and try and go as well as I know I can.”
Short’s mentality flipped.
“I came fourth at the Olympics (in the 400m freestyle),” he said.
“In our lives, it’s probably a little bit of a failure.
“But I’ve got tons of mates and … they’d literally probably chop their legs off just to get the opportunity to come fourth at the Olympics, so that put it in perspective.”
At the Adelaide selection trials for the worlds in Singapore from July 27, Short won the 400m freestyle on Monday night.
He finished second on Tuesday night in the 200m freestyle, an event he’s using to build early speed for his longer distance races.
On Wednesday night, Short will race the 800m freestyle, before contesting the 1500m free on Friday night.
