Annamay PierseCHRISTINNE MUSCHI
"You have to be a little bit crazy. You're staring at a black line under the water for 20 hours a week. It's pretty monotonous," says Annamay Pierse, Swimming Canada's world record holder in the 200-metre breast stroke.
"So, if you add a little bit of crazy, it helps."
But these days, it's not going to the London Olympics that's driving her crazy. Pierse will not go to the Games, after a bite from a mosquito at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India left her weakened and depressed. She did not make it through the Canadian Olympic qualifications last month.
The 28-year-old, a native of Edmonton and a student at the University of British Columbia should be in the prime of her swimming career, an Olympic veteran bidding for her second shot at the Games after her 2009 word record. She was sixth in the 200-metre breast stroke final in Beijing.
Instead, she'll reconsider her future and hide the pain by turning her hand toward designing of swimsuits for little girls -- and, when pressed, coming up with a design for the perfect swimmer in 2012.
"First, the swimmer would have to be tall, as most of the top swimmers are. Big hands to scoop the water. Big feet, they act as paddles. Lean, but not too skinny. And flexible, with a good feel for the water," says Pierse. Depending on which of the four strokes an athlete specializes in, it can be a matter of different horses for different courses.
"In breast stroke, there really isn't a perfect body type. They range from the little Korean girls to Liesel Jones of Australia (5-foot-10 and 150 pounds) who is tall and big for a swimmer. I was different from other girls in breast stroke," said Pierse, who stands 5-foot-10 but is lighter than the Aussie at 130 pounds.
"A lot of butterfly swimmers are shorter than everyone else; but freestylers are huge and have so much muscle."
Pierse has no formal training in fashion creation, but certainly knows after 22 years in the pool what it takes to make a good swim costume.
"I don't think coaching is for me. I think life after swimming for me is going to be in the fashion world. That's my other love," she said.
"I was a good swimmer, but I don't think I'd be a good coach. I'm not good at working out cycles of what a swimmer should do day-to-day to be the best, or writing up practices. I could teach breast stroke techniques, the way my coach (Josef Nagy) broke it down, piece by piece... But I plan next year to start a little girls', bathing suit line."
It wouldn't be easy to cut the cord of the highly competitive swim world completely after 22 years on the starting block, she said.
"I'm in a limbo field right now. I'm still kind of in shock. I feel like I'm in a bad dream. I don't think I can say 'I'll never go back to the pool'. It's been my life.
"But slowly phasing it out might be my best route."
Her world record of 2 minutes 20.12 seconds in the 200-metre breast stroke will go to the Olympics, even if Pierse doesn't.
Before the Olympic trials, she picked up the first sponsorship of her career as one of 11 female athletes bucking the tomboy image in sport by endorsing Procter & Gamble's Pantene hair products. The company will keep using her image as a world record holder with a healthy lifestyle.
But it will take time for one of the world's fastest women in 2009 to come to grips with not swimming in the 2012 Olympics. She had been paraded at the Canadian Olympic Committee's media summit as a likely team member with medal potential.
"It's been heart breaking. When I set the world record in 2009, everything was going well, everything was great... but it's been rough since then," she said, her voice trembling.
"It's the worst thing that can happen as an athlete; to be on top of the world and then have so many things happen that are out of your control... To go to the Olympic trials and miss the team, I was devastated."
She contracted the virus by being bitten by a mosquito at the Commonwealth Games. Symtoms include a high fever, rash, headache, joint and muscle aches, nausea and vomiting. Pierse said she lost 15 pounds in the first week to 10 days.
"It took a while to regain that -- but it wasn't just the weight, it was how to get the muscles to recover from the horrendous illness. It affects everything -- muscles, skeletal system, veins, capillaries... then emotionally it causes you to have depression three months down the road."
She wasn't the only one who saw the Olympic road end at the Montreal trials. Mike Brown, 27, of Perth, Ont., had retired to sell real estate after missing the podium by .09 second in Beijing. He'd set a Canadian record of 2:08.84 there. Brown came back to try for London and kept up with winner Scott Dickens for 150 metres -- than faded away to be fourth in 2:14.95.
"I've never been more confused in my career," he said.