Injury rehab holds no fears for Inverness' Olympic rower Alan Sinclair
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OLYMPIC rower Alan Sinclair intends to draw on past experiences as he plots his comeback from a shoulder injury.
Sinclair had surgery on Saturday to cure a nagging problem that had bothered him for the last few seasons and faces three months out of the boat.
Scans revealed a labral tear in the posterior part of his right shoulder, however when operated upon an additional tear was diagnosed in the anterior part of the muscle too.
Sinclair had put off investigating the problem last year as surgery in an Olympic year would have put his place at the Games in jeopardy. He had been getting by with regular physio but was still acutely aware of the problem.
His last major injury came in 2012 when he broke his leg, shortly before he was due to break into the Great Britain team. However, clocking up the hours in the gym and working extensively on his upper-body strength kept him firmly in the coaches’ thoughts, and his breakthrough came the following year.
With a much shorter time-frame on this injury, Sinclair hopes his previous experience is helpful in bringing him back to the boat in top condition.
“That experience is probably going to help me out a lot in the hard days, because it’s all about getting fit for the end of that three months,” said Sinclair, from Munclochy. “I need to make the most of my legs, lungs and heart and do my best.”
That work done in recovery nearly five years ago could, Sinclair believes, have masked the underlying problem. As he was unable to do any work with his legs, the focus changed to building up as much upper-body strength as he could and making particular use of a SkiErg – an upright rowing machine that requires the user to pull down on a pair of handles to operate.
“I spent a lot of time doing upper-body work in 2012 and building strength up top,” added Sinclair.
“That probably concealed the structure underneath. As the years have gone on and more deterioration of the muscle has taken place, it’s become more vulnerable. I have dealt with discomfort and slight inhibition of performance but there was no point in the last four years where I felt I would have been better off having it checked out.
“The operation got scheduled as soon as possible and it just so happened to be the day after I came back from training camp. I was put under general anaesthetic and apparently the surgeons told me the shoulder was in a worse state than they thought. I’m not sure what held my shoulder together but I got by somehow.”
The Inverness Rowing Club life member will see a physio on Thursday for a check-up and hopes to be allowed on the bike by Friday, to begin his rehabilitation.
Dealing with the problem throughout the last Olympic cycle does not look obvious in Sinclair’s results. A fourth place in the final of the men’s pair at Rio 2016, as well as several European and World Championship medals, belies a rower battling a long-term problem.
“There must have been a partial dislocation at some point but I don’t recall anything,” he said. “I do remember years ago, skimming stones in the sea while I was on holiday and the shoulder hurting more than it used to.
“But I didn’t think I had done any damage. I’m fairly certain I’ve had it for the entirety of my time in the team.”
GB coaches had been impressed by his performance at the training camp in Sierra Nevada, close to Granada in the south of Spain, and are optimistic with his recovery time.
There will be no downtime for the former Fortrose Academy pupil. As soon as he is given the green light to start working, it will be all systems go until he is allowed back into the boat.
“I’ll be back into the same volume of training. It’ll be back into the gym and on to the leg weights,” said Sinclair. “I’ve got it sorted early in the Olympiad and May is the start of the racing season. Hopefully I’m back for Henley Regatta.”
