After a sixty some years of swimming for enjoyment and fitness with occsional competition as fun I had to have ankle surgery that resulted in a fused ankle.
I am in therapy and rejoined my local masters group last week But I wonder how much ambition I should harbor, I now I lose about 30% vertical mobility in the ankle and probably won't be able to kick effectively. But I thought perhaps the *** stroke and butterfly could be my focus.
Do any of my fellow members have suggestions - experience to share?
Art "Happy" Klein
Niagara masters
:)
I've got teammate who was born with a congenital ankle problem. This has made it very difficult for him to kick effectively. This said, he's an excellent swimmer.
Are you able to do any kind of stretching exercises to restore some flexibility? I'm not sure I exactly what a fused ankle is, but I get the image of it being impossible for you to point your toes--so your foot is permanently stuck in a kind of L shape.
Could you talk to your rehab person, explain how important swimming is to you, and see if they can come up with a plan to let you extend the range of motion over time?
I agree with the earlier correspondent to figure out how this affects your times, then go from there. It's a pain, I suspect, but it is possible to make such adjustments. I am coming back from a painful shoulder, just had a meet for the first time in 6 months, and my times were 5 seconds slower in the 200 and 24 seconds slower in the 500--but still I was happy to do this well!
Good luck. Give yourself a bit of time, work towards making the best of the ankle flexibility, get better at breaststroke (where it might even be beneficial!), and check back with your progress.
Former Member
If you choose to do the distance events then this should not affect you too much. You will have to make sure that your kick is small and streamlined during the stroke. As a masters swimmer I believe that your first competition of the year should be your new PB any way. A lot of people forget about things in life that affect the way that they train and hense perform.
Wipe the slate clean, see what times you do then set your goals.
I hope this is good advise.
I coach a man that has both ankles fused. He excels at Breaststroke and Backstroke. These seem to be the two easiest kicks for him. Since his ankles have his feet in a permantly flexed position, Breastroke is ideal. He can do Back well since there is an upkick on the stroke.
Good luck
Former Member
I posted my question a few years ago and was disappointed that I never got a response. It must have been wafted through a time warp and found some really good hands to land in.
I had the surgery and the recovery was slower than we anticipated. I just about had given up a year ago and was just *** stroking and not too much of that. I have a dense strong body and sink deep in the water. Great for sprinting and up to 200 yards freestyle but bad for back, breaststroke and flys.
I had been stretching and walking right along and realized last spring that I have regained enough flex in the fused ankle to swim nearly normally. The pain has diminished in the past six months.
But six months ago through some inadvertent action, my posterior tibial tendon in the other ankle let go and I was immobilized for several weeks slowing progress once more.
I know I am not back to completive level because of the two-year layoff but I expect to be in full form by June.
The next local meet here is in the autumn and I would really like to get in top competitive condition for that and wow my friends with some golds.
