[ PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK ]
Mallory Comerford: "Finally Feeling Like Myself in the Water" Heading Into Olympic Trials BY DAN D'ADDONA
M
allory Comerford rose to become one of the world’s best swimmers through regimented training, a clear focus and planning ahead.
other personal health issues that weren’t allowing my body to recover. We did a full reset in March and that allowed my body time to heal.
But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Comerford, like most swimmers, lost her regular routine with the everchanging circumstances. For someone who relies on routine, it was an extremely difficult situation, something that Comerford is still dealing with more than a year later as she prepares for the Olympic Trials.
“We started with swimming an hour a day then built things up until there. It was hard but it was good to see my body recover throughout the process. Knowing how my body has adjusted has been really encouraging.”
“It has definitely been a different journey than I expected it to be. There have been a few extra road bumps,” Comerford told Swimming World. “But I am at the best place I have been in a while. I feel really encouraged going into Trials. I am looking forward to racing.” It took a while to get there, however. “I have had to make some adjustments of things through some injuries. We have come up with a new plan. The hardest part of it for me is it not going as planned,” she said. “I am someone who likes to plan ahead in my head.” It didn’t help that she was going through some physical ailments. “From October until March or so, I was really struggling in the pool, mainly practice-wise,” she said. “I started off getting some bloodwork done and going through some things. We are pretty sure I had mono in the fall. I had some 38
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But it was the mental toll that the ailments and the lack of routine began to increase. “It is definitely challenging at times, especially mentally. The most important thing I have learned is keeping things in perspective. I was struggling in the pool and didn’t understand why. That was really frustrating,” she said. “The hardest part especially being so close to trials, swimming is so regimented, especially the way I train, that breaking that routine — especially one that has been working — was something different and in swimming, different can be scary.” It started with the pandemic. Different forms of exercise and less time in the pool were dynamic changes for a professional swimmer. “I did not get out of shape at all. I have done so much work and my body was still processing it as work. It was just a different stimulus and different recovery,” Comerford said. After a few months out of the water Comerford slowly picked up pieces of her routine.
