Rare disease forces Todd to quit
HONG Kong Olympian Duncan Todd has been forced to give up competitive swimming after being diagnosed with a rare illness.
The 18-year-old all-rounder, who represented Hong Kong in last year's Olympic Games in Barcelona, is suffering from Crohn's Disease - inflammation of the small intestine, causing abdominal pain and fever.
On medical advice, the teenager has stopped full-time training and pulled out of the national squad because his condition will not allow him to swim the 10 strenuous sessions a week necessary in the buildup to next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
''It's like my world has crashed around me,'' admitted Todd.
''It was a recommendation from the coach, Bill Sweetenham, that I took a year off my studies to train full-time, so obviously he thought I had some potential talent.
''It would have been a great challenge to see what I could have achieved but now that's not an option open to me.
''I had one session of about five kilometres at the beginning of October and it was really bad. I felt ill and tired and was literally on my back for the next week.
''Everything got worse and, after consulting a doctor this week, I have decided to stop.
''It's not worth it, because 10 sessions in a week would absolutely destroy me.'' Todd, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was three, has been swimming competitively since he was eight years old in the age-group competitions.
Although he specialised in the butterfly stroke, competing in the 100 metres and 200 m in Barcelona, he also trained for the individual medley and for the 4 ? 100 metres medley relay team.
''The 200 'fly would have been my main event for next year but I was also concentrating on the 100 'fly, the 200 and 400 individual medley and the butterfly leg of the relay,'' said Todd, who holds two Hong Kong records.
After completing his A Level examinations at the German-Swiss International School last summer, Todd went on a training camp to Australia. That was where his troubles started.
''Two weeks into the camp I came down with hepatitis but got over that two weeks later. Then I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and for the past five months I have been battling that.
''I saw the doctor on Monday and he said I could not handle 10 sessions a week or the amount of training required to succeed. My training has been half on, half off for the last five months, so I would have had a lot of catching up to do.'' The cause of the disease, which is also referred to as Regional Ileitis, is not known, so there is no specific treatment.
''Apparently it is becoming more and more prevalent among people aged between 16 and 25,'' said Todd.
''Once you have it, it's there for life. There may be times when it flares up and gets bad but then you could go two years without noticing it, although it is still there.
''If things improve for any length of time I might try to get back into competitive swimming.
''It's very disappointing because next year's Commonwealth Games will be the last for Hong Kong.'' The Commonwealth Games will be held in British Columbia, Canada, in August, followed by the Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, in October.
Todd, who was planning to start university immediately after next year's Asian Games, is now trying to find a place at a London college, starting in January.
