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ACP’s Tierney swims through anxiety disorder

BY MADISON THACKER

Cronkite News

At Kerry Croswhite Aquatic Center, members of Arizona College Prep High School’s swim team jump in the pool and start their warmups on the kick boards.

Coach Kristine Nelson paces alongside the lanes as freshman standout Ashlyn Tierney warms up with dolphin kicks and backstroke.

Tierney has already broken the 100yard backstroke record for the school and hopes, along with the rest of her team, to bring home the first Division III swimming and diving championship for the Knights. Just two years ago, however, Tierney wasn’t breaking records or chasing a title. She was in a wheelchair with a numbness in her legs and unable to walk.

She had been sitting in class when she started to feel sick and within minutes, Tierney went from being able to walk to not being able to feel from the waist down. Tierney’s parents immediately took her to the emergency room.

“The doctors did so many tests. And said, ‘You should be able to walk up,’ because there’s nothing wrong with my nervous system or my spinal cord,” Tierney said. “Three months kind of goes by … from being in a wheelchair to a walker.”

Tierney was diagnosed with conversion disorder, the brain’s physical manifestation of anxiety. She also has vasovagal syncope disorder, which causes her to lose consciousness and faint. “I couldn’t feel my anxiety or even recognize it to see that it was there,” Tierney said. “So my body kind of was like, ‘OK, you’re not gonna listen to me, Ashlyn Tierney’s poster example of determination is added motivation for her Arizona College Prep swim team. “She’s one of the best swimmers on the team,” said teammate Grace

Burns. (Brooklyn Hall/Cronkite News)

I’ll make you listen.’ And kind of just shut everything off.” Tierney has been dealing with vasovagal syncope disorder since she was 3 and is able to recognize when she is about to faint. Twice, she was in the pool when she began to feel woozy.

“It’s scary just going unconscious in the water. I’ve kind of learned how to deal with it and to recognize that it’s happening,” Tierney said. “I get to the wall and let someone know, my teammates are aware of it so it just kind of puts me at ease a bit more.”

Her teammates try to look out for her even while they are swimming, heads down in the pool. “I’m a certified lifeguard. It’s my job, I look for these things,” said teammate Ethan Ruhl. “When I see her hit the wall, I look up to check and make sure she’s all right. She’s been an amazing teammate so far, she’s really excelled in everything that this team is about.”

Three months after Tierney’s legs went numb, the use of her legs returned.

Since then, Tierney has found healthy outlets to help deal with her anxiety. She finds fidgeting with jewelry and listening to music helps her stay centered and calm.

While Tierney is eager to win and is chasing her goals, conversion disorder has taught her to let go of the pressure she puts on herself.

“Something that I learned through the conversion disorder is so many things are taken for granted so easily,” Tierney said. “So getting the change in perspective, my validation, my happiness isn’t validated through winning or from a good race time.” Tierney’s experience with conversion disorder and her grit in the pool inspires her teammates to give it their all despite their own circumstances.

“I think she is such an inspiration to all swimmers because even though I’m older than her, she’s inspired me so much to push myself,” said Grace Burns, a junior swimmer. “She’s one of the best swimmers on the team. And even though she is one of the best swimmers, she has struggled in her own way.”

Tierney’s work ethic in the pool helps her lead the team. “It’s great when you have a freshman that comes in and they just completely integrate themselves into the team,” Nelson said. “She’s always smiling, always positive, very consistent. I think she’s humble. So it’s just really... she’s already a great role model for everybody.”

After learning how to walk again, Tierney’s strength is contagious. “Having heard her story, I think there was an overcoming factor because she had to be in a wheelchair for a while, but any 12-year-old that goes through that has something that has to be inside of them,” Nelson said. “That’s strong. I think now as a 14-year-old, I think she’s got that inner strength, and it transfers over to other people.”