Maria was just getting into competitive swimming when she began experiencing symptoms of MS.
She had begun training for the Australian Masters Games when she started experiencing spasms in her back, neck and arms and days when she was unable to get out of bed.
‘Swimming was an outlet from work, which was very stressful — lots of deadlines and creative pressure, so swimming was nice just to put your mind away in the water.
‘At that time I started feeling some strange symptoms, like pins and needles in my feet and legs, hand tremors and atypical listlessness. I blamed it all on my work - running my own business was quite stressful, often I was working without break for days, often skipping meals, sacrificing sleep, sitting in the office for 12-14 hours day after day.
‘Then in July 2022 I had my first really big episode where one day I woke up and my right hand and arm had become dysfunctional. As a right-handed person, I couldn’t do any work. I couldn’t even hold a cup or pencil. Prior to that, I was experiencing pins and needles and tingling in my right side of the head, neck and in my hand. I was just waiting for it to go away. But instead strange sensations kept intensifying to a level of unbearable,’ Maria says.
Despite her symptoms, Maria was determined to keep swimming. She continued to train for an upcoming Masters Championship following her official diagnosis in September 2022, altering her technique to suit her new condition.
Unfortunately, Maria’s symptoms progressed to the point where she lost functionality in her legs as well. She spent the time in bed researching how she might regain her mobility.
‘I couldn’t walk for a few weeks, but I was determined to move again. Every day I was lying in bed and trying to move my legs. I was imagining them moving, trying to tense my legs for hours, again and again. Eventually, there was a tiny twitch in the toes, but after that it started coming back little by little.
‘Every time a part of my leg would come back, I had this feeling like you get when you sit on your legs and they go numb, then the blood rushes back and you regain the feeling back. Those little victories were really exciting and gave me strength and inspiration to keep going
‘Eventually I built enough strength to take 3 steps, a few weeks later I already could walk 50 metres. I got a bit of independence back, I could then cook my food and stand up for a little while. After about 5 months, I could walk 500 metres.
Getting back in the pool
‘One thing that really helped me was water.’
Maria started swimming again and found the water was the perfect place for her rehabilitation.
‘It was hard because my body wasn’t listening to me at first. In my mind I thought I was doing a freestyle kick, but my coach was telling me that I was doing something completely different. It was very strange that my legs and my hands seemed out of control.
‘In the water though it’s much easier to build your strength (when you are really weak) and regain range of movement than on land. The buoyancy and resistance of the water and repetition of movements really helped. My progress was steady until I felt ready to compete again.’
After reading about Paralympian swimmer with MS, Stephanie Millward, Maria started to realise she didn’t need to give up on her dream of swiming competitively.
‘Steph’s story inspired me to take my swimming to the next level and try to become the fastest Para-swimmer with MS in Australia.’
After discovering a ‘Multi Class’ swimming competition, available specifically for swimmers with disabilities, Maria decided to commit.
In November 2023, Maria received an MS Go for Gold Scholarship and will now be able to fund the equipment, pool access and some of the coaching she needs to make it to the top.
‘For me the Multi Class competition was the goal I needed, a way to push myself, to refocus and when I won the Go for Gold Scholarship, I thought suddenly things are happening for me again.
‘On land I am clumsy and slow, yet in the water I am strong and powerful! I hope to be able to afford training more to keep swimming and ultimately, achieve my dream.’
A competitive spirit
After Maria placed second and third in Multi Class, a Paralympic swim coach experienced in working with swimmers with spinal cord injuries, watched and reached out to offer his help.
‘My coach Nikolay is amazing. He is also a highly skilled rehabilitation therapist and he can pick up what parts in my body aren’t working based on how I am moving in the water and gives me special exercises to help me to restore the correct biomechanics and build strength.
‘He would say “let’s forget about medals, let’s just focus on your mobility and rehabilitate you as much as possible. Your health is number one priority”.’
Maria recently took bronze at State, against a Paralympian who competed at the Tokyo Games. She is now in training for the next State and National Championships before setting her sights on the Paralympic trials in June and, one day, Paralympic gold.
‘I respect my body more and more every day for its remarkable ability to recover, adapt, survive and heal. When I swim, I forget that there’s anything wrong with me. I don’t feel disabled at all. I feel strong, I feel powerful and determined.
‘It isn’t always easy. Sometimes I feel a bit like that Greek myth, where Sisyphus is pushing that boulder up the hill and just as he gets to the top, the ball rolls back down and he has to start again. That is me.’
Maria also plans to compete in her next local MS Mega Challenge, a 12 or 24-hour relay swim which funds the MS Go for Gold Scholarships.
‘Supporting the Mega Challenge means a lot to people with MS. The event itself gives us a chance to reconnect with society. MS is an invisible condition, it’s like a secret club. Some people with MS have to conceal their diagnosis. They have been given something difficult to deal with and then they feel like they must hide their condition.
‘There are no other MS swimmers in the comps I do. Through participation, I want to educate the general public about MS, about the hidden nature of this condition and its limitations, but also the possibilities.
‘Before it happened to me, I had no idea what MS was or what it meant. Even at the comps, people will ask me if they can catch MS from me. I want to raise awareness and also to represent the MS community and show how strong we are.’
‘I want to prove to society that we, MS warriors, are capable of remarkable deeds!’
Find out more about the MS Mega Challenge or apply for a 2024 MS Go for Gold Scholarship.