9 October 2006
Aaron Scott
Sydney University Lions newest recruit, Tommy Woudwyk, makes the injury sound so innocuous.
“I was playing in the Junior World Water Polo Championships in Argentina. It had been a long haul, we’d had a few training camps in Europe before heading across to Argentina. But in our final match, after a couple of shots, my right shoulder felt strangely fatigued. I didn’t think it was anything, I just thought I was a bit run down. Once the tournament finished and I was about to hop on the plane I noticed my arm felt bloated and tight – the sort of feeling you get after you’ve done a really heavy weights session.”
But still he thought nothing of it. He jumped on the plane and flew 17 hours across the Pacific Ocean with no idea he had just gone through a potentially fatal situation.
“When I got off the plane I looked like one of those crabs you see with one big claw and one little claw. I had one massive arm and one tiny one. We measured it and my right arm was 15cm bigger in diameter. It was huge.”
It was only when Woudwyk walked in the front door that his mother guessed he had a blood clot. She rushed him to hospital where the full extent of the situation became apparent. The clot had developed at the top his chest, gathering size as it moved through his right shoulder, before coming to rest in his right bicep.
Woudwyk was suffering from Paget-Schroetter Syndrome – a rare condition where an over developed neck muscle (in this case from the torrent of training) fills the space between the collar bone and the first rib, crimping the sub-clavian vein. The doctors estimated that Woudwyk’s neck muscles were four times larger than an average man’s. The sub-clavian vein was absolutely obliterated.
He was placed on blood thinners but the damage was far too advanced. He was immediately rushed to surgery. Aggressive blood thinners were pumped into his veins as surgeons removed his first rib to accommodate his neck muscles.
It was only after the surgery was complete that the doctors realized his sub clavian vein was so devastated it could no longer carry blood. They rushed him back to the surgery, pumped him full of anaesthetics and performed a vein graft, taking a vein from his groin.
It was, potentially, a career ending moment for the 20-year old Woudwyk. He had shown enough promise with the Brisbane Breakers and AIS National League sides to be selected in the Aussie Sharks team that competed at the 2005 World League in Hungary and Spain. But the surgery left him in hospital for over a month and, upon leaving hospital, a monstrous dosage of Warfarin (a powerful blood thinner) left him incapacitated. Three months of inactivity saw his physique wither. He gingerly returned to training in mid-January this year.
“It was a pretty crazy thing for a 19-year old to experience,” says Woudwyk. “You know, when you’re 19 you think you’re bullet-proof. It was tough at the time, but I hope that one day it will just be a funny chapter in an autobiography. That’s the way I like to think of it.”
The injury has, if nothing else, given Woudwyk time to re-appraise the direction of his career. He was approached by Sydney University’s Ali Visch who suggested he move to Sydney and play with the Lions. The move opened the potential for further study. Now he has a Business degree and a chance to play in a premiership-winning team on his horizon.
Last season the Lions swept into the Grand Final of the National League (played over three matches) only to be denied in a classic, two matches to one series by the Fremantle Mariners. In the off-season the Lions have been stripped of much talent; Sam McGregor and Thomas Whalan will both play in Europe, Nathan Thomas has retired. The void is considerable, but so is Woudwyk’s potential.
“I’ve decided I wanted to get serious about my water polo and serious about my studies and I think Sydney Uni’s the best place to do that. You know, the team’s great. It’s a fairly star-studded line-up with Trent Franklin and Robbie Maitland, Grant Richardson and Ali Visch. It’s always better to be an average player in a great team than a top player in a weak team.”