In some ways, swimming saved my life. After many healthy years post-cancer, in late 2021, I started to notice pain in my chest and a tender spot above my sternum bone. When I reported my concerns to my hospital, they did ultrasounds of my breasts but didn’t scan my bones.

Months later, when swimming front crawl, I noticed more pain in my chest: it felt like my bones were crunching together. I could no longer push myself up on the side to get out of the pool, and for the first time in my life I had to use the stairs.

After some persistence, I was sent for an MRI scan, followed by a PET-CT, which eventually confirmed a potato-sized tumour in my sternum. As the growth was large, I would have to take drugs for several months to see if the cancer would shrink enough for surgery to be an option. Fortunately, I responded so well to the tablets and injections that in January this year, I was finally able to have surgery.

“Breast cancer made me choose between swimming and life – but I will swim again”