BEIJING – For Eric Shanteau, cancer has been less of a curse than a convenience.
It has provided him with a built-in alibi and a sure-fire sponge for Olympic stress. It clarifies priorities, generates support and streamlines the thinking of the wandering mind.
Listen to Shanteau long enough and you could almost believe the dreaded disease was doing him a favor. Listen to the American swimmer for even a little while and you can hardly help but come away awed.
“I kind of have a history of not thinking myself out of a good swim, but kind of thinking myself crazy,” the breaststroker said yesterday. “A lot of people don't know that, but now I have something else to think about instead of just swimming and competing.
JONATHAN FERREY / Getty Images
U.S. swimmer Eric Shanteau was diagnosed with cancer weeks before the Games.
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“So I think it kind of helps in that aspect. It kind of helps relax me and calm me down for swimming.”
Seven weeks since he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, the 24-year-old Shanteau has decided to “take ownership” of his ailment and to convert it into fuel. If he does not medal during the Summer Games of Beijing, it will not be for lack of mettle.
“He's been inspiring in many ways,” fellow U.S. swimmer Aaron Peirsol said. “We were trying to figure out why he was being so coy and turning up to training late. There were many rumors floating around – (and) we started most of them – but the way he's handled this has kind of (brought) a little bit of perspective for all of us. There is more to life than swimming.”
That much ought to be obvious, but it isn't always among young athletes. Many of them view serious physical setbacks as much with annoyance as anxiety, as if the most catastrophic consequence were a postponed party.
Having narrowly missed the 2004 U.S. Olympic team in two individual medley races, Eric Shanteau's initial reaction to his June 19 diagnosis was to consider taking a swing at the doctor who had delivered the bad news.
“The first thing that comes in your mind is, 'No way, this isn't happening to me. How is this happening to me?' ” he said. “I'm supposed to be one of these elite athletes, you know, I'm going into Trials with the invincible mindset and all of a sudden I've got cancer.”
Testicular cancer, the most common form found in young men, is not nearly as ominous as it was 15 or 20 years ago. Medical advances have raised Stage 1 survival rates to 95 percent or better.
Yet though his doctor advocated aggressive treatment, Shanteau says tests showed that his disease had been detected early enough to allow him to compete in China. He is sufficiently encouraged to have scheduled five days of post-competition sight-seeing before his return to the States for surgery.
“Probably the biggest bridge that I had to cross was that it wasn't a decision I basically had any control over,” he said. “I don't control the results of the tests. If certain things had come back elevated . . . I wouldn't be here. . . .
“It would have been pretty devastating but, again, I didn't have any control over it. It would have been a tough pill to swallow. Fortunately – I don't know if my body's fighting it – (but) it's a very slow form of cancer.”
Eager to avoid another treatise on the studiously dull Michael Phelps, dozens of reporters surrounded Shanteau after the U.S. swimming team's formal news conference. They were drawn by the dramatic outline of Shanteau's story and by the composure and confidence with which he supplied the shading.
Shanteau understands that his Olympic example can create more meaningful ripples than any of his swimming strokes, and he is trying to use his forum to inspire others and combat fear. Improbable as it sounds, he is turning cancer to his own advantage.
“What I show the general public is my positive side,” he said. “(But) I am human. This has been a roller-coaster ride. This isn't just the flu; this is cancer.”
This is heavy stuff, however lightly you look at it.
“The Olympics look a lot smaller when you're dealing with something like cancer,” American swimmer Brendan Hansen said. “It gives us an idea that what we're doing here isn't as high on the pedestal as we sometimes put it.”
Given his near-misses four years ago, and all of the hours he has invested in the water, Eric Shanteau continues to assign swimming a lofty perch. Though he is unlikely to challenge Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, Australia's Brenton Richard or U.S. teammate Scott Spann, Shanteau's second-place time in the U.S. Trials would have been swift enough for a silver medal in Athens in 2004.
In other ways, he has already won.
Tim Sullivan: (619) 293-1033; tim.sullivan@uniontrib.com
