Kathleen Baker: Overcoming Crohn's Disease On The Way To Olympic Gold

A feature on 2016 Olympic gold medalist Kathleen Baker and how she overcame adversity with Crohn's disease to make the United States Olympic Team and win gold in the 4x100 medley relay with Lilly King, Dana Vollmer, and Simone Manuel in Rio.

Jun 8, 2017 by Connor McCourt

Kathleen Baker: Overcoming Crohn's Disease On The Way To Olympic Gold

The past few years have been a climb to the top for United States backstroker Kathleen Baker. She burst onto the scene in 2014 with a second place finish in the 200m backstroke at Phillips 66 Summer Nationals, enough to earn her a bid on the U.S. Pan Pacific team that summer. She followed up her success in 2015 with an 8th place finish and a PR of 59.63 in the 100m backstroke at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

But it was 2016 that became the most important year of her career. She punched her ticket to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with the swim of her life at the U.S. Olympic Trials, posting a 59.29 -- good for the second qualifying spot. In Rio, she blew away everyone's expectations by posting the top qualifying time in prelims, and then again repeating the act in semifinals. In the final, she lowered her best time to 58.75 and touched for silver behind Hungary's Katinka Hosszu. She also swam for the U.S. 4x100m medley relay, winning a gold medal in the process.

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Shockingly enough, winning two Olympic medals wasn't necessarily the most impressive part of her three-year run. Kathleen Baker accomplished all of this while battling Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease most commonly denoted by serious inflammation to the digestive tract. Symptoms include severe stomach pain, fevers, loss of appetite, lack of energy, rapid weight loss, and more. For a swimmer, suffering from any of these symptoms could be detrimental to training, let alone all of these symptoms at once over a prolonged period of time. I had the opportunity to sit down with Kathleen and discuss her path to the top.

When did you start to notice something was wrong?

I started noticing something was wrong when I was twelve because I began to lose a lot of weight very fast and no longer had any energy to even get out of bed in the morning.

What was your immediate reaction to your diagnosis?

Right after I was diagnosed, I was crushed and wouldn't talk to anyone for days because I was so emotionally upset. I thought all my dreams were going to be ruined because when you search "Crohn's", a lot of terrible stories come up. This was a really hard time for me because I was still very sick. The medication I went on at first didn't work very well.

What is the most difficult part of dealing with Crohn's on a daily basis while training full-time?

The hardest part about having Crohn's on a daily basis is knowing how to manage my energy. There are some days where my body is so exhausted that daily tasks take a lot out of me. Also, it's hard to know when I have pushed myself too hard training wise. That can cause me to become sick or overtired. It's hard to catch that before it happens.

Did you, at any point, think your Olympic dreams were over because of Crohn's?

A couple times I've doubted myself, but only at the lowest of low point healthwise. That usually happens when medication begins to stop working and can no longer control your symptoms at all. But sometimes in those moments I am not even thinking about swimming, but I just hope I get back to being healthy enough to live a normal life. I am lucky that my parents and doctors never let those thoughts stay in my head very long.

As if winning two Olympic medals isn't already enough of a feat, was there any extra sense of accomplishment for overcoming Crohn's?

I feel like I was definitely prouder and more appreciative of winning medals because of the hardship and struggles it took me to get there. I was so happy I could accomplish that and show a lot of young Crohn's patients that their lives are not over because of Crohn's. I wanted to be a success story, so when you google Crohn's something positive can come up.

Based on your experience, what kind of advice would you offer to young athletes with big goals who face a diagnosis like this?

I think the best advice is to surround yourself with people, and especially doctors, who have your health and goals in mind too. I don't want kids to let a diagnosis prevent them from not believing in themselves or feeling as though their lives are over. I never gave up on my dreams and goals, and would want other kids facing a hardship to have the same mentality.

Kathleen currently resides in Charlotte, NC and is training for the USA Swimming Nationals & World Championship Trials for the FINA World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary this summer. She lives a mostly normal life healthwise and continues to be an inspiration to the youth by making appearances at swim camps.
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