Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn fought back tears after overcoming mental “demons” to claim 50m breaststroke silver at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
Goodburn, 23, was diagnosed with three oligodendrogliomas – a rare type of cancer which can affect the brain and spinal cord – last year after suffering from numbness and seizures in the build-up to Olympic trials.
The nature of the tumours makes surgery to remove them impossible, but Goodburn has had medical treatment to try to combat them.
Having qualified second fastest for the final, the University of Edinburgh swimmer took silver with a time of 27.76 seconds – just seven-hundredths of a second behind winner Max Morgan – and was overcome with emotion in his post-race interview.
“Quite a lot,” Goodburn said when asked how much resilience it has taken to get on the podium.
“I’m lucky to have a fantastic family around me, girlfriend, my team.
“It’s been really tough. The last few days have been a real mental battle – I’ve been fighting a lot more demons than I thought I would be.
“Well done to these guys stood beside me – they are doing a fantastic job to be racing at the level they are racing at at their age.”
