Tessa Wallace heads to Pan Pacs on high

(posted 12.08.10)

Punching out laps at an hour when even sparrows are drowsy can be hard work.

But when Caloundra's Tessa Wallace heard the call to board flight VA007 from Brisbane to LA on Wednesday, August 11, all those early mornings were suddenly vindicated.

Tessa, a Year 12 student at Matthew Flinders Anglican College, will embark on her first campaign with a senior Australian squad when she dons the green and gold next week at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California.

Wallace has been battling a persistent knee injury in the lead-up to the Pan Pacs, an ailment she first suffered in March, and has also been troubled by a displacement of her pelvis.

However, some “left field” treatment from renowned Brisbane physiotherapist Roger Fitzgerald appears to have worked wonders in the nick of time.

After Wallace underwent her first rehabilitation session with Fitzgerald on Tuesday, her father John said the pain she was experiencing from her injuries had decreased significantly.

In another positive, Tessa's regular physio, Russell Small, has been named on the Australian team's medical staff and will be able to continue treating her.

“Roger certainly didn't disagree with anything Russell was doing with the rehab on her knee – it was just the way her pelvis was out of alignment,” John Wallace said yesterday.

“There were tendons holding it out of alignment that were causing her pain, and she did some exercises to relieve the tendons and it went back into alignment.

“She hasn't been doing any breaststroke training because she couldn't get into kick mode without severe pain, but after the treatment she could do the kick.

“He's come up with some weird and wonderful ideas, but boy, do they work.”

Tessa endured the misfortune of tearing the meniscus in her right knee just before the Commonwealth Games trials in March.

The injury contributed to her narrowly missing selection in her pet event, the 200m breaststroke, for October's Games in Delhi.

The top two swimmers in each event qualify for the team, but Wallace finished third.

Despite this, she still has an opportunity to book her ticket to India as Swimming Australia has dispensation to add up to 10 more swimmers to its Games squad after the Pan Pacs.

“I haven't had the best preparation but when it comes to racing, it's a lot about the mind,” Tessa said.

“I'm just trying to keep positive, try my best and get a PB or even better.

“I'm still very optimistic about the Commonwealth Games. If I swim well, I do have a real chance.

“When you're at the pool training, that's the hardest thing with swimming, but when you make teams and go overseas, I feel like one of the luckiest people there is around my age.”

Fellow Sunshine Coast swimmers Samantha Hamill and Nick D'Arcy are also in Australia's Pan Pacs squad.

- story Jon Tuxworth, Sunshine Coast Daily

Sunshine Coast Daily article

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