You have to listen to your body

Competing with the best on the world scene and producing the fourth fastest time in the world that year gave him the encouragement he needed to carry on. Ending 1994 on a much happier note than it had started, Ian could look forward to 1995. But things did not go well that winter and with the trial in April, he did not have enough time to gain the fitness level to produce the qualifying standard. Third at the trials outside the required mark was another blow and yet a further mountain to climb. By the National Championships in July, he was inside the benchmark laid down for the Europeans but at this late stage there was no chance of being added to the team.

So an early break allowed him to commence training again in September. His time at the Nationals was inside the World Short Course qualification. Fifteen British swimmers qualified for Worlds but only five, including Ian, accepted the invitation to compete.

It had been a long time coming but a personal best by over seven seconds in Rio de Janeiro delighted him. His time of 14:49.72 gave him the silver medal, just one second behind Daniel Kowalski, who is the world number two behind his Australian teammate Kieren Perkins.

This was just the tonic Ian had wanted, as he claimed "This has given me confidence. I know I'm better long course." Just ten days later at the National Winter Championships, that confidence was reflected in a British record swim of 14:40.69, taking another nine seconds off his best.

Now everything back to normal, Ian is in hard training for the British Olympic Trials in March, where he knows he will have to be at his best for three swimmers will be aiming for the two places at stake. The other two are Graeme Smith, the European silver medallist, and Paul Palmer, the European silver medallist in the 400 m freestyle.

After all that Ian has withstood over the past few years, he is a lot wiser. His illness has taught him "you have to listen to your body," when things are at their worst, the only way is up, never give up hope, stay positive with your aims firmly in place, and nothing is impossible.

His few hours work in the greyhound department of The Press Association and in the administration office of Leeds Sports Department help him forget about swimming.

Now aged 25, Ian still has an appetite for the sport and will only consider retirement when he no longer enjoys training and racing. Swimming or sports administration are his main hopes for life after racing, and already he is getting used to committee work by being the swimmers' representative on the ASA Swimming Technical Committee. He was also recently elected as Chairman of the Athletes' Council. Ian hopes all that is still a long way off, for his thirst for success has not been quenched. So more medals could be coming his way.

After all, a winner never quits and a quitter never wins.

我们经常听到游泳教练对他们的学生说：“你还不够努力！”然而，这种事情从来没在23岁的英国运动员Lan Wilson身上发生过。从1993年5月开始，对Lan来说，身边的一切都开始变得困苦艰难，同时也开始了他“绝不放弃”的旅程。
Lan开始不断地在训练中超越自己。他感到非常疲惫，不可想象的沉重，肌肉尤其是手臂部分经常感到疼痛，也没有规律的睡眠时间。可那时候没有人关心他，跟他说：“你看起来很累，总是打哈欠，冲动又急躁。”

一直以来Lan都感到肌肉疼痛，脉率又高。他在英国举行的国际游泳锦标赛上的表现十分糟糕，治疗刻不容缓。大会医师David Fodden对其验血，结果显示有一些异常。
就在（国家）宣布英国队出赛设菲尔德的欧洲冠军杯前夕，Lan拜访了英国奥林匹克医疗中心的医师Richard Budget。Richard Budget建议Lan推出游泳队，否则可能会以ME之类的疾病告终。这给了Lan很大的打击。

医生的话让Lan崩溃了。他很怀念还是一个为重大比赛而积极训练的健康运动员的时候，然而他明白，如果继续下去，他往后的生活将非常痛苦。
诊断结果表明Lan一直接受着过高强度的训练，却没有适当地休息，从而使得肌肉损伤，最终导致慢性疲劳综合症。Lan在独自训练的时候，平均85KM甚至95KM以上的训练使他完全忘记了这些疼痛

Lan在2年前获得过欧洲1500米游泳银牌，而他在那之后再度取胜的愿望就这样破灭了。Lan从来没有感到过如此无助。在一个漫长而寂寞的夏天，他对他认为是朋友的人感到很失望。没有人跟他联系，是因为他们不知道要对他说什么，还是因为他们只顾着忙于自己的训练，他也不知道。但他的家人一直支持他，理解他，尤其他的母亲，帮助他度过了最黑暗的日子，伴着他等待恢复完全健康的那一天。但这是说不准的事--也许需要6个月，12个月，或者再也好不了，没有人能断定。最后一个可能是他不会，也不愿意考虑的。

纵观Lan的生涯，回报总是来的很迟。他从8岁开始训练，追随他1988年获得汉城奥林匹克运动会200米蝶泳第16名的姐姐。4年之后他第一次赢得了分年龄组的奖牌。Lan14岁的时候第一次参与1500米比赛。有过了一年后他创办了胜利讲坛

以前的Lan每天至少训练4小时，而现在他只能每天在水里呆20分钟做一些简单的活动，每活动2天就要休息一天，慢慢地，从20分钟增加到了30分钟。每一个疗程都要经历6周左右，每个阶段Lan身体的损伤都得到一点你给程度的恢复。Lan每6周就要到Harrow那里，让Harrow对他的恢复进度做个评定。如果他的健康状况还不能应付额外的训练，那么Lan就要重复上一周的训练内容。他的空暇时间都在干些什么呢？那再简单不过了。游泳是他的生命，能有什么事情比指导森德兰游泳俱乐部里的孩子们更理所应当的呢？毕竟，他已经通过了一般教学员的考核，而且他希望在他完全退出游坛后，当教练就是他生活的一部分。