Corner Brook -
Unlike her days with the Corner Brook Rapids, where it sometimes seemed as if the success of the swim club at any given meet rested upon her shoulders, Kelsey Flynn was just another ultra-talented swimmer among many on the Memorial University of Newfoundland travel swim team.
It's a little ironic then, how during her first competition with the varsity squad, those shoulders - or at least one of them - finally gave out.
The 17-year-old daughter of Terry and June Flynn was swimming in Lethbridge, Alta. in October when, in her words, her shoulder "kinked" during her 200-metre Individual Medley. The diagnosis? A shoulder subluxation, which is a temporary, partial dislocation of the shoulder joint.
"It popped out of the joint and rolled back in, so I've been out for a while," said Flynn. "I haven't been traveling (with the team), but hopefully after Christmas I'll be able to."
As luck would have it, the team has been working out in Corner Brook for a few days after Christmas and Flynn, who is home for the holidays, managed to get back in the pool in an effort to regain total motion in her shoulder.
"I was able to go to practice and just kick on my back with my hands at my side," she said of her first few dips in the pool after suffering what she called the most serious injury she's ever had to deal with. "It's at the point now where I can do more with it, so I'm getting back in the pool with (Rapids coach) Tracy (Hogan) and hopefully I'll be more involved in this camp.
"I'm trying to swim every day now to get my shoulder back in shape," she continued. "Oh my God ... it's horrible. It feels like I just started swimming again. The last couple of years I've only gotten two or three breaks in the season, so it was good in a way to have the break and the study time, but now it hurts so bad."
Other than the constant pain in her arm, Flynn's first term of university hasn't been going too badly, as she works towards a bachelor of science degree while a member of the 12-member travel team, many of whom she's been swimming with for five years or more.
"Balancing school and swimming was hard at the beginning, but once I got in the groove it was good," she said. "It is good to get back home now and see my friends and all that stuff."
Her time at MUN may be brief, however, as a swimmer of Flynn's calibre tends to attract attention wherever she goes.
"I love MUN and everything, but there's a coach up in Ontario who has been looking at me since I was literally 13 years old, trying to get me to go to McMaster (University in Hamilton). I'm debating now whether to go to MUN next year or McMaster."
Regardless of her geographical or educational location, her modus operandi will remain the same.
"Either way, I'll definitely be sticking with swimming," she said.
