From Channel 5 November issue, 2013, P114-121 Dictated by Bob Chen, Written by Lu Mingkui
 
They were the four major representatives for Chinese sports, but they all left the arena due to sports injuries.  Bob Chen, the distinguished Chinese sports expert for the Olympics, will reveal the secret “Achilles Heel” of each.
 
This will be divided into four parts, and we will present them to you one by one starting from today.  Please stay tuned!

Part Three – Zhang Lin
 

Process of injures

In 2008, Zhang Lin underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs in his ankle.
 
In 2010, after the National Championships, his condition was greatly affected by injures. 
 
At the 2012 National Championships, he was troubled by shoulder injuries and asthma, did not reach the Olympic A Standard in 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle, and did not qualify for the London Olympics. 
 


Injury Analysis 



Although the main reason for Zhang Lin’s performance decline was asthma, his shoulder injury also brought him a great deal of distress.  I met Zhang Lin in 2002, when he was only 14.  When his coach came to see me for the first time, it was because of his shoulder injury.  Zhang Lin’s neck was a little crooked when he was born, and there was a fibrous tumor on that area, which was surgically removed, but left a scar.  His shoulder girdle was relatively loose, so when he stroked through the water, his shoulder joints were not stable. So when he was doing push-ups, his shoulder blades were actually “floating,” and were prone to problems. 
 
Many swimmers have a shoulder injury that is known as “swimmer’s shoulder.”  When a person swims, he constantly turns his shoulders, stokes the water, pushes the water, and his shoulders have repeated grinding actions, causing damage to the rotator cuff muscles.  As we know, rotator cuff muscles are very important fixed muscles of the shoulders, and when these muscles are injured, shoulder joints cannot perform well, which results in deformation of techniques.  This occurs when an athlete’s joints are either too flexible or too tight.  If a person’s flexibility is too good, it can also be too loose, therefore not stable, and painful when being squeezed; if it is too tight, then it is hard to break apart, also painful.  In Zhang Lin’s case, the joints are too loose.
 
We started working on him in 2002 until right before the World Championships in Rome, and to this day, no one has broken his 800-meter freestyle world record.  Before he got the gold in the 800-meter, he had ankle surgery, and had the spurs removed because every time he made a flip turn, the spurs hurt him, which prevented him from kicking the wall.  After the surgery, he came to Hong Kong to see me for rehabilitation, and I did not allow him to swim much; instead, I had him do a lot of strength exercises.  During that period, each day, he only swam 1000 meters to relax.
 
After the postoperative rehabilitation and physical training, he returned to his team and had short-term recovery training.  He then went to the Japan Short Course Championships, and nearly broke the world record.  Later, he went to the long course in Rome, and broke the 800-meter world record.  It is very hard for the outside world to imagine that a person could break the world record right after surgery and during the recovery period.  Many of our athletes are not willing to devote time to exercising.  Instead, they always swim in the pool, and practice their special events.  As a result, there are weak links inside their bodies that prevent them from swimming well.  In response to this, we took advantage of the time after surgery and arranged targeted physical training for Zhang Lin. 
 
Swimmer’s shoulder mainly occurs in freestyle and butterfly, and rarely in backstroke and breaststroke.  However, “breaststroker’s knee” could occur in the breaststroke when swimmers do not use their knees to kick properly.  Swimmers also tend to have lumbar muscle strains, so when they are kicking the water, their lower backs are sore.  There are few injuries in swimming, and mostly occur in shoulders.  In water, the arms are used as the main driving force of movement, more than 70%, while the legs account for only 30% or less. If strength is lacking, the shoulders tend to get injured.  Famous swimmers such as Zhang Lin and Sun Yang all have shoulder injuries.