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Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn fought back tears after overcoming mental “demons” to claim 50m breaststroke silver at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.<\/b><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The nature of the tumours makes surgery to remove them impossible, but Goodburn has had medical treatment to try to combat them.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Quite a lot,” Goodburn said when asked how much resilience it has taken to get on the podium. <\/p>\n
“I’m lucky to have a fantastic family around me, girlfriend, my team. <\/p>\n
“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. <\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n