Positive perspective

Canton swimmer Carlson remains upbeat in the wake of career-ending  injury

  Smiles came easily to Maggie Carlson Wednesday afternoon as she recounted her amazing swimming career at Canton High School.

  One of life's cruelest fates imaginable robbed Carlson of much of her senior season in the pool, but it has not dimmed the three-time state-qualifier's remarkable spirit.

  On Sept. 25, Carlson was in the passenger seat of a car that was completing a left turn from south-bound Beck Rd. onto east-bound Ford Rd. A car traveling north-bound on Beck blew through a red light and T-boned Carlson's side of the car.

  Carlson suffered a broken pelvic bone in the violent collision, which ended her competitive swimming career.

  But as she sat in a wheelchair just a few feet from the pool where she accomplished so much Wednesday afternoon, the captain displayed an undaunted attitude that was nothing short of inspirational.

  "I'm going to make the best I can out of this and not get all sad and stuff," she said, smiling. "I'm going to be here for the team as much as I can."

  With the exception of Olympic bronze medalist Allison Schmitt, Carlson was arguably the Chiefs' most-accomplished swimmer this decade. She qualified for the Division 1 state meet in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200 individual medley each of her first three years in high school and was a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that set a school record in 2007.

  "Obviously, Maggie has been a major part of our program the past four years," said Canton coach Ed Weber. "Prior to this season, it was always tough thinking about losing her when she graduates, let alone losing her a little earlier than expected because of her injury.

  "Maggie's work ethic is amazing. I could always count on her to put in a hard workout. Her strengths in the past were always the breaststroke and the IM. You'd think the No. 1 reason she was so good in the IM was because of the breaststroke, but that wasn't necessarily the case. She was so good in the IM because she trained so hard in the freestyle -- which wasn't her best event -- and overtook people toward the end of the races because she had out-trained everybody else."

  A competitive swimmer since the age of 8, Carlson excelled as a youth for the Plymouth-Canton Cruisers. Like her older brother, Matt, she quickly established herself as a top-notch high school athlete in the ninth grade when she started earning big-time points in her first year of prep swimming.

  "The things I like best about swimming are the good friends I've made and the good times I've had," she said. "I've always tried to have fun with it and not get too competitive. I never wanted it to get too stressful so that it wasn't fun any more."

  Carlson was voted the Chiefs' MVP after her junior season when she placed 16th in the 200 IM at the Division 1 state meet.

  "If not for Allison Schmitt and Maggie's injury this year, there's a good chance she would have been a four-time MVP," Weber said.

  "Last year was the hardest I've ever worked for swimming," Carlson said. "I got really committed and practiced hard, which is why I made it through to the second day at the state meet for the first time."

  Carlson said she will not pursue a college swimming career, even though doctors have assured her she'll recover 100 percent from the broken pelvic bone.

  "I want to go to an art college, and not many of them have swim teams," she said, smiling. "I want to be a fashion designer. I can't sew, but I like drawing the designs."

  While the accident was devastating in many ways, Carlson realizes it could have been much worse.

  "I broke my pelvic bone in two places, but I didn't have a scratch or a bruise anywhere else," she said. "In a lot of ways, I'm lucky."

  She could begin physical therapy within a month.

  One of the initial forms of therapy: swimming.

  "Something I'm kind of familiar with," she said, smiling.

Ed Wright can be reached at [email protected] or (734) 453-1980.