Jessica-Jane Applegate: Management of back injury, not surgery, the best way forward

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Jessica-Jane Applegate wins the 200m freestyle at the World Para Swimming ChampionshipsImage source, Getty Images
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Jessica-Jane Applegate clocked 2 mins 9.09 secs to win the S14 200m freestyle gold in Manchester

Swimmer Jessica-Jane Applegate has ruled out any possibility of surgery on her back as she looks ahead to the Paralympics in Paris next year.

The 26-year-old suffered serious back problems, including a torn disc.

Despite that, she bounced back with two golds and a silver at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester.

"It's about me as an athlete learning to respect my body, when to push it and knowing when to relax," Applegate told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"There isn't really a fix for a back injury, it's about management really. Surgery could be an option, but I would rather avoid that.

"With a rehab programme, I see my chiropractitioner and have soft tissue massage to keep on top of everything.

"Resting a back injury is probably the worst thing you can do, you need to keep moving, so I guess that's the best thing about swimming, it's not weight bearing."

Applegate regained the S14 200m freestyle title she first won in 2013 and then was part of the victorious 4x100m relay team at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

But she said she was "lucky" to "hit the qualifying time" for the World Championships because of her injury issues.

"I got a back injury after my holiday which was a prolapsed disc, a torn disc and a dehydrated disc. Basically three discs in my back are in pain and they are causing a lot of pain throughout the rest of my body. It made training really hard," she said.

Applegate won her first major gold medal at the London Paralympics in 2012 and has no plans to bring her swimming career to an end after the 200m title left her "mind-blown".

She added: "Now I've won my title back, Paris is definitely on the cards, it's definitely something I want to achieve.

"It's [swimming] something I enjoy and I don't see it coming to an end any time soon, especially as I've now proven to myself, let alone everyone else, that I can still win and I can still go really fast.

"Rather than take an everyday job, I'd rather do something that I love and especially now I'm winning, that makes it so much better."

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