British breaststroking ace Archie Goodburn revealed on social media today that he has been diagnosed with three inoperable brain tumors.
Goodburn, who raced at the Aquatics GB Olympic Trials this past April, described the lead-up to his heartbreaking diagnosis, indicating he suffered from symptoms as of December last year.
“My training began to be interrupted by strange episodes, the 23-year-old posted.
“These episodes, initially thought to be hemiplegic migraines, would occur during hard training. They would leave me with a loss of strength and a numb sensation on my left side, a deep feeling of fear, nausea and extreme deja vu – I now know that these were in fact seizures.
“These seizures grew in intensity and frequency in the lead up to the 2024 Olympic Trials in April.”
Goodburn placed 3rd in the men’s 100m breaststroke event at those Trials, clocking 1:00.03.
After that competition, Goodburn, who topped the men’s 50m breaststroke domestic podium a year earlier and earned World Junior Championships bronze in 2019, pursued an MRI that confirmed oligodendroglioma.
He describes it as ‘an extremely rare form of incurable diffuse and progressive brain cancer.’ Although inoperable, tumors of this type have historically responded better than other types to chemotherapy and radiation.
Despite facing this difficult situation, Goodburn expresses that he is young, fit and surrounded by a phenomenal support network of friends and the ‘best family he could ever hope for.’
He vows to remain positive and to ‘keep being Archie.’
