But in January 2021, as she was training for her next Olympic Trials, she started feeling off.
At first, it was just every week or so at practice.
But by March, her symptoms worsened, as she shared in an emotionalpress conferenceat the Trials that year.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/Amanda K Bailey
Herheart rate would spikeduring easy workouts and remained high even when she was at rest.
Her muscles felt sore and she lost her appetite.
Just walking up the stairs to the pool, I was gassed, she said.
Every athlete has likely pushed their boundaries and felt fatigued.
Now, three years later, Manuel is back to competingand winning medals.
But the road from overtraining syndrome back to the top of competitive sport wasnt easy.
Heres what she experienced as she made her way back to the pool.
Manuels symptoms werent just physical.
Overtraining syndrome also brings a host of psychological challenges.
Manuel says she was depressed, anxious, and couldnt sleep.
She also lost her enthusiasm for the sport she loved, among other changes to her personality.
I isolated myself from my family.
The stress of being a Black swimmer added to her struggles.
I was then being asked to speak on these panels: How can we support our Black community?
How can we diversify the sport of swimming?
she said in a 2023documentaryproduced byTogethxr.
She wasnt sure if shed ever swim again.
She modified her workouts for several weeks, but her performance continued to decline.
Thats just how poorly my body was functioning, she added.
So, she took three weeks off.
She had a hard time knowing whatand whento share about her health.
Some of her predictions proved true.
People didnt believe that I actually was overtrained, Manuel said in the Togethxr documentary.
That I became lazy and my success went to my head.
Her treatment included five months of complete rest.
When she returned back home, she saw her doctor again.
So, that was her prescriptionshe didnt train, or do any physical activity at all, until January.
Patience and self-compassion were also key to her recovery.
After Tokyo, Manuel heard even more negative noise about her performance.
Seeing a sports psychologist helped, as did journaling or word dumping, as she described it toThe Ringer.
Shes also leaned on her support system.
That allows me to in some ways balance swimming better.
She eased back into training little by little.
There, she found coaches and teammates who helped her have fun and appreciate each small step forward.
It took two years of training for her to feel like herself again.
Manuels first competition back was in January 2022.
OnUnfiltered Waters, she called the performance a breakthrough.
It was the first time in a while that I felt confident racing, she said.
She carried that feeling through the 2024 Trials.
She doesnt necessarily call Paris a comeback.
Yes, shes returning to the Olympic Games in a far better place, mentally and physically.
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