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ABOVE: Chloe Osborn, Hawkesbury Oasis LTS teacher and Australian representative hopeful
Chloe Osborn: survivor, athlete, teacher, teenager
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hloe Osborn, 17, is kicking goals in the pool and out. The Multi Class swimmer from Box Hill, New South Wales, took to the pool following a spinal injury. It wasn’t long before the water morphed from a space of recovery to one of connection, structure and achievement. Now, swimming flows through almost all aspects of her life. She trains daily and dreams of competing for Australia. She also teaches learn-to-swim at the Hawkesbury Oasis, where she first fell in love with the pool. 2021 has been a year of epic wins for Chloe, and she’s just getting started.
Staying afloat through adversity
As a kid, Osborn was big on sports and particularly obsessed with soccer. But when she was just 12 years old, she received shattering news that ground all familiar 74 SPLASH! October/November 2021
aspects of her young life to a halt. She was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer occurring in bones or the soft tissue around them. For Osborn, the cancer was in her spine. Vital surgery to remove her tumour resulted in some nerve damage and a spinal injury. At the time, her physio recommended swimming to maintain her strength, keep her muscles moving and help manage her pain. “Because of my spinal injury I wasn’t allowed to play contact sports or anything where there was impact, so no running or anything like that,” Osborn says. “Swimming was pretty much the last sport that I was actually allowed to do, and I was always really big on sports, so it was really important that I kept doing something active. I guess as it was my only option, I channelled everything into it and I wanted to do the best that I could.”