British swimmer Archie Goodburn diagnosed with brain tumors

LONDON — British swimmer Archie Goodburn has revealed he has been diagnosed with inoperable brain tumors, discovered after he competed in this year’s Olympic trials.

The 23-year-old Goodburn, who is from Scotland, had experienced numbness and nausea during his training for the Olympic trials. He narrowly missed qualification at the April event.

Goodburn wrote on his Instagram account Thursday that tests showed he has three oligodendrogliomas — a rare cancer.

“Six weeks ago, my life experienced a profound change as I was diagnosed with three brain tumors,” he wrote.

Last December, his training began to be interrupted by “strange episodes” that he thought were migraines. He lost strength, felt numbness on one side, and had nausea.

“I now know that these were in fact seizures. The seizures grew in intensity and frequency in the lead up to the 2024 Olympic trials in April, something I’d aimed for and trained for almost my entire life,” wrote Goodburn, who won bronze in the men’s 50m breaststroke at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships in Hungary.

Goodburn, who represented Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, said he's hopeful that radiotherapy and chemotherapy will prove effective.

“The silver lining to this diagnosis is that oligodendrogliomas generally respond better to radiotherapy and chemotherapy than many other serious brain tumor types. They are often slow-growing and these tumors are likely years old,” he wrote.

“I am young, I am fit, I have the most phenomenal support network of friends, the best family I could ever hope for and a fantastic girlfriend by my side,” Goodburn added.

“I am determined to take this head on, to remain positive and to keep being Archie."