Swam four events in a meet yesterday (actually five with the relay they threw me into). It was my first real meet in 22 years. My first event was the 50 ***. I came to the wall on the finish and reached out to get the touch pad. I tagged it and jammed my right index finger. OUCH. Didn't think it was that bad. It was sore, but I made it through my other events. Still sore all night. I iced it a bit last night, but this morning it's very swolen an brused.
This is not the first time I've done something like this. I once broke my foot hitting it on a gutter on a flip turn.
Did I mention I don't have any depth perception? And did I mention that I'm an idiot?
I have a friend who's daughter got a finger caught in the lane line and had to have pins inserted as a result of the break. We all have stories like this, don't feel bad.
Back in the day.... I broke a few fingers on the old "slat" pads during backstroke turns (that would be back when you had to touch before you turned!). The leading finger, hitting a slat just near its edge would slide into the gap behind the next slat over and when you turned, the finger was pinched, wrenched and what have you!
I was really glad when they finally retired those old monsters!
When I was a kid racing at an age-group meet at the famous Santa Clara pool, I was sliding over a lane line in the shallow warm-up pool
when my right nipple got caught and pinched! It was by far the most intense pain ever. I thought that my nipple was gone.
Incredibly embarrassed and shocked by the pain, I wasn't brave enough to even look down to check for a good 5 minutes.
Boy, I'd never been so relieved to see my own nipple.
When I was a kid racing at an age-group meet at the famous Santa Clara pool, I was sliding over a lane line in the shallow warm-up pool
when my right nipple got caught and pinched! It was by far the most intense pain ever. I thought that my nipple was gone.
Incredibly embarrassed and shocked by the pain, I wasn't brave enough to even look down to check for a good 5 minutes.
Boy, I'd never been so relieved to see my own nipple.
Egads! :eek: That sends shivers up my spine!
If I don't jam a finger at least once a year, it tells me that I need to work on finishing my races harder. Nothing idiotic about it, the occasional jam comes with the territory. Blowing a race because you coasted into the wall, on the other hand....
This might make you feel better:
I broke my 5th metacarpal (the bone in your hand that your pinky finger attaches to) earlier this year. I was swimming in crappy pool that I wasn't used to and I was out of shape. The lane line flags were too high (hung off a balcony actually) so my focal point was off. I guess I was backstroking faster than I thought and thought I had one more stroke. I ended up slamming my hand on the end of the pool.
It hurt pretty good. The bruising was pretty awful. I think i may have fractured it before in lacrosse so it was a good hit to break it. I feel like a complete dumbass.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the fact that I had to have surgery with 2 pins put in.
Idiot injuries are not reserved for swimming. I rolled my ankle today during a trail race, whilst passing someone on the singletrack. Casually commented "that's going to hurt later". Unfortunately it was all too accurate. Yeeouch... Luckily tequila makes an excellent substitute for Ibuprofen, which I seem to be out of. Methinks I will be using the pull buoy a lot for the next few weeks.
This is going to interfere with my plan for improving the old inflexible kick. :bitching:
The risks of injuries when swimming or so incredibly small relative to other sports, I think that's why we are kinda shocked when something happens like a broken finger. But after dabbling in other sports, and coming back with more serious injuries, I've come to the realization that swimming is pretty much awesome in nearly every way, barring the occasional broken phalange.
Ouch! That really hurts. But you are in good company, there was a swimmer in the last Olympic trials who broke her hand on the finish of either the 50 or 100 free, made the team but had to have surgery to repair the break. I think she was from Cal. It means you are finishing strong!
