California freshman Katie McLaughlin will be returning to her Southern California home to continue rehab on a neck injury that has cost her most of her rookie season.
McLaughlin, a U.S. National Teamer and one of the nation’s top recruits in her graduating class, injured her neck during Cal’s annual training trip to Hawaii. The injury caused McLaughlin to scratch out of the Arena Pro Swim Series at Austin in January.
McLaughlin returned to action at the Pac-12 Championships, but swam only the 100 and 200 freestyles with no forays into butterfly, the stroke that earned her a berth on the U.S. World Championships team last summer. She was still noticeably hindered in her freestyle events, finishing about a second off her lifetime-best in the 100 free and 3.7 away in the 200 free.
The freshman did not make the NCAA Championships, and Cal released a statement today announcing that McLaughlin would be returning to her home in Southern California to continue rehab on the neck for the rest of the semester.
McLaughlin included a statement noting that she plans to return to Cal “as quickly as possible” and hopes returning home will speed along her recover. She is also a contender for an Olympic spot for Team USA, most notably in the 200 fly, where she took 6th at last summer’s World Championships. She also swam the third leg of the gold-medal winning 800 free relay at that same World Championships.
The full statements from Cal coach Teri McKeever and McLaughlin are below:
Statement from Cal head coach Teri McKeever –
“Currently, Katie is working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to 100 percent. After talking with her family, they decided it was in Katie’s best interest to return home to Southern California for the remainder of this semester so she can focus on making a full physical recovery. Katie’s health is of paramount concern to us and we will continue to support her throughout this process. She is a true Golden Bear. We look forward to Katie’s return and will support her every step of the way.”
Statement from Cal freshman Katie McLaughlin –
“Throughout the course of the past couple of months, I have been working hard to recover fully from the injury I sustained. Although I was able to return to competition recently, I believe it is most important for me to get back to 100 percent as soon as possible. I want to be at my best for my team and coaches and excel at everything I do athletically and academically. So, after talking with my family, my coach Teri McKeever and my doctors, the decision was made that returning home to Southern California for the remainder of the semester will allow me to focus on making a full recovery and returning to Cal as quickly as possible. I truly appreciate the support of my family, friends, teammates and coaches and look forward to getting back on campus and rejoining my teammates soon.”
Katie is a true champion. Getting sidelined for months and making the finals in 4 events last week is a remarkable tribute to her character as a person of integrity, hard work and sportsmanship. Look out Japan!
Cal is culpable and negligent on this injury. There is plenty of rehab available at or near Cal. School is more important than swim and nobody should leave a semester on the table at Cal unless the plan is to leave permanently. Unlike Stanford, Cal has a bad habit of steering many swimmers, male or female, into suspect, near worthless majors.
Agree with all you said. Her going home I think is a “hail mary” to try and get back to 100% for trials. She could still make 200fly if she can get in a solid 8-10weeks of training at 100% and then a quick taper. Clock is ticking she needs to be almost at 100% by Mid April or she might as well take the summer off to fully heal. She should request all her medical records now so she can hand them to her attorney.
I’m so glad this injury wasn’t worse (one can easily imagine horrific scenarios) and I’m hopeful that McL can fully recover in her time at home.
At minimum, making the decision to leave school is an alarming indication of how significant the injury continues to be. Despite the heavy dose of positive spin in the released statements, there still may be other questions in play as well, but only time will tell.
It would seem weird to me, for example, if we suddenly saw McL back in training with MVN and jumping back into competition this spring.
I don’t think her returning home is alarming. She could easily just be feeling isolated from her team and homesick being sidelined with the injury and have decided going home is best for her rehab. When she’s in the team environment every day at Cal, she may have been pushing herself to return to the team too quickly. Going home alleviates that temptation. Also, with trials so soon, I think it makes sense to take some time off from school to focus solely on recovery. If she unenrolls from classes, she likely wouldn’t be able to stay in her dorm room, on her meal plan, etc.
Wishing Katie the best! Just painful to hear anyone getting hurt. GO KATIE!!!!!!!
Mckeever Is directly responsible for the neck fracture in that no swimmer should be forced to do a cartwheel drill into the ocean in a rocky area. Completely unnecessary and dangerous. Truly a disaster for this talented swimmer. The swimming community wishes for Katie to regain her health and happiness and supports her, even if she chooses not to return to the Cal swimming team, which may be for the best as the coach is not as advertised during recruitment. However, maybe McKeever will refuse to give her a release like she did to cierra runge??? Coaches should return to safe and same training.
Do we know for sure that that’s how it happened?
What’s a cartwheel drill?
I don’t think she is ever going back
Something is fishy in Berzerkely
She’s a strong contender for the US 4X200 free relay and the gold medal which goes with it. Plus a strong contender for an olympic final in the 200 fly.
It must be very tough to accept an injury in that olympic year.
Best wishes of quick recovery and hopefully we’ll see Katie McLaughlin at 100% at trials.
Wish her a speedy recovery!