World Champion Swimmer Born with Cerebral Palsy

Susie Maroney, a 32-year-old Australian world record-holding marathon swimmer, recently revealed that she was born with cerebral palsy, and that her family had her begin swimming lessons when she was six months old to combat it. She and her twin brother Sean, also born with cerebral palsy, kept their condition secret in their youth to avoid getting teased and picked on by other children.

Susie's mother Pauline, now 64, said that three months into her pregnancy with the twins, she suffered respiratory arrest from severe asthma, and doctors offered her the option of terminating the pregnancy. The twins brought the number of children in their family to five. Pauline says that when the twins were babies, Susie could not move her right side and Sean was ‘just floppy.'”

Pauline and her husband took the children swimming as a way to strengthen the children's muscles, and a good therapy for cerebral palsy. As Susie noted, "She knew the water was the best place for us: people can't see you limp."

Susie eventually became a marathon swimmer, and she holds many swimming records, including the world record for the fastest return crossing of the English Channel, accomplished when she was 16 years old. Sean became a triathlete.

Susie says she was now ready to reveal her cerebral palsy because "now that I'm older I'm so proud of my parents for helping me get over it. I told Dad the other day I might talk about it. He almost started to cry."

(Source: Sydney Herald Tribune)

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