Cartwright bounces back at Comm trials
Rising star Jack Cartwright says he is no risk of missing the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games despite being hospitalised at the selection trials with the same heart condition that floored Kyle Chalmers in 2017.
The 19-year-old bounced back from his health scare to earn an individual Games berth in the 100m freestyle alongside Olympic champion Chalmers on Thursday night.
Cartwright said he would see a specialist when the four-day trials concluded on Saturday after being diagnosed with the heart condition that forced Chalmers to take 2017 off - supraventricular tachycardia or SVT.
Chalmers underwent surgery last year for the condition that causes the heart rate to increase dramatically.
The Rio gold medallist has bounced back to claim his maiden national 100m and 200m freestyle titles at the Gold Coast trials.
Cartwright said he would consult the specialist to manage the condition after his scare in Wednesday's 200m freestyle heats.
Cartwright's heart rate reached more than 200 beats a minute while swimming but somehow finished the race.
"It made me real breathless and dizzy during the race but I just pushed through to see what I could do," Cartwright said.
"I went to hospital that night and got the all clear to race again.
"I did as much as I could to recover to be able to step up in the 100 metres free."
Cartwright has known about the condition since March 2016 but said it was the first time it had occurred while racing.
"It's not really serious but it's the fact that it makes you so breathless and fatigued. After that race I almost fainted," he said.
"The specialist said I could manage it and gave me three options: operation, medication or just to wait it out and see what happens. I have been waiting it out."
After missing the 200m final, Cartwright steeled himself to snatch his last chance to make the Games team in the 100m on Thursday.
He scraped into the 100m final, tying with Chalmers for seventh spot to earn the last place in the eight-strong field.
Remarkably Cartwright roared home from an outside lane to clock 48.60 seconds to place second behind Chalmers (48.16) and earn a 100m berth.
"I am pretty proud of myself by bouncing back and being able to handle it - it was a good learning curve," Cartwright said.
Last year Cartwright earned his international debut on the 2017 world titles team despite being hospitalised at the trials with bronchitis.
