It’s been a long 10 months for Singaporean swimmer Roanne Ho, as the 50m breaststroke National Record Holder suffered a collapsed lung in January of this year. But, the 24-year-old is coming back fighting, ready to race in the upcoming World Cup stop in her home country.
The collapsed lung veered her plans for a Rio appearance significantly off-course, as the injury resulted in emergency surgery and hospital stay. The situation prevented Ho from participating in the Asian Games, which signified her final opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Adding more complications was the fact that, once back in the pool, Ho suffered a shoulder injury this past June. Although mostly recovered and now practicing with the national team as of 2 weeks ago, Ho says her shoulder injury is forcing her to swim with different technique.
“My old stroke is causing my shoulder too much pain,” she said. “For now, I have to adapt my pull, my breast stroke pull in a different way. Because that is happening, we are trying to change my kick to make up for the loss in my pull.”
“I just feel like I’m relearning the whole stroke all over again,” said Ho, as she is preparing for her comeback debut at the FINA World Cup in Singapore scheduled for October 21st and 22nd. However, as with her Singaporean teammates, Ho will be swimming without former national head team coach Sergio Lopez on-deck.
Lopez, who had been at the helm of Singaporean swimming since late 2014, is now Associate Coach at Auburn University in the United States. This past August, Ho took to social media to thank Lopez for his tenure in Singapore.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJSB8JPhEaq/?taken-by=r0anne
Looking ahead, Ho says of her World Cup appearance, “No longer getting sidelined after a year. I ain’t in my best form, but it might be interesting to take best on how I’ll do, ‘lmao’.
AB