Coach Hilary featured by Western U. on International Womens Day
International Women's Day Series: Hilary Bruce, Mustangs Swimmer
3/8/2024 2:14:00 PM
London, ON – When you look up courage and trials & tribulations of a student athlete, Hilary Bruce's face and name should be there.
The Mustangs swimmer is in her 3rd year with the team but that journey has seen several detours along the way.
She started swimming competitively at the age of 11 with the London Aquatic Club, working her way up to the top group in the club and competing at the provincial level. Her grade 12 season was cut short due to the pandemic and wasn't able to compete at, what would have been her first national competition that summer.
That didn't deter her from her goal, which was swimming at the university level and in the middle of the pandemic in 2020, she committed to swim at Western. Bruce set her first big goal that year, qualifying for her first national meet. She was training that whole summer and all throughout the ups and downs of the first year during the height of the pandemic.
At the start of her second season, she was "so ready to return to real training". During her first few practices with the team that year though wasn't feeling like herself in the water. At first brushing it off as adjusting to the new team and training.
She started to seek some medical advice with hopes of getting back to full training as soon as possible as she had big goals and all the motivation and drive to achieve them. But again she felt something was off and also increasingly frustrated that she was not able to train to work towards them.
After a few weeks of tests and appointments and a week out of the water, she found herself in the University Hospital Emergency Room. A CT scan found that she had a 10cm tumor in her chest, right around her heart and lungs. It was not only a shock to her and her family but also not what the ER doctor was expecting from a 19-year-old varsity athlete.
She was sent home that night, feeling quite shocked obviously but the next week started the process of 6 months of tests, hospital stays and drugs to shrink the aggressive B-cell lymphoma growing in her chest.
" I came out of that treatment defeated, weaker than I'd ever been and certain that I would never swim again." said Bruce "While I had no hopes of ever competing again, I still wanted to regain some of my fitness. I worked with a personal trainer and started rebuilding some of the strength that I had lost."
One of Bruce's bigger struggles was how to talk about what she went through, so she decided to take to social media when she finished treatment and was amazed to find all of the positive responses she received.
"I was invited to share my story at Western's Relay for Life event and gained a lot of confidence from the response there too. I started to be okay talking about it accepting the limitations I had as a result." said Bruce
The next hurdle she wanted to conquer was getting back with her team at Western.
" I met with Paul (Midgley) in the spring, with intentions of telling him I had lost too much strength and that he wouldn't want me taking up a spot and slowing down the training of the team." said Bruce "Instead, after I laid out my reasons for not coming back, he said why not try. I missed the community of the team more than anything so I figured, if he was willing, I would give it a try."
The challenge was very large for Bruce, oftentimes finding the struggle to be almost too much.
"Returning to swimming was the hardest thing I've ever done. I knew it would be tough physically but, I was not prepared for the mental toll it would take to not be able to train the way I used to and know that I probably never would." said Bruce "I experienced impostor syndrome, feeling like I didn't deserve to be taking up space in the lane, on the bus or on the roster. I didn't race for most of that season because I was embarrassed to put up such slow times."
Bruce dug into her passion for the sport and set her goals of maintaining a positive relationship with the sport and giving herself a purpose on the team. This led to her being voted captain of the team for this season.
"That accomplishment gave me more confidence to become more of a leader on the team. I was improving in my performance, but more than that I was connecting with every person on the team in a meaningful way which gave me way more purpose."
At the final meet of the season, she was able to achieve times that were on par with where she was before getting sick.
"I am so grateful for the community of Western Swimming for welcoming me back when I was not at my best, and for allowing me a space to recover and grow as an athlete and a leader."
It goes without surprise that the team is happy to see Bruce being in a better place today.
"Hilary has been an inspiration to the entire Team." said Mustangs Head Coach Paul Midgley "Overcoming a serious illness to swim competitively again at the varsity level, her dedication and leadership took her to the Team captaincy and scoring level at the recent OUA championships."
You can support Hilary in her participation in Relay For Life through this link:
https://support.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/?px=14108732&pg=personal&fr_id=29417
