20 Question Tuesday: Eric Shanteau, Part 2

Eric: I don’t have a whole lot of experience with hospitals and surgeries and that kind of stuff, but yes, I was out for less than an hour. It seemed like kind of a minor thing to get rid of it – like it was almost easy to get rid of, so that was a pleasant surprise. When we think of cancer we think of lifelong battles and years and years of treatments, countless surgeries, and the worst thing you can imagine. To be rid of it and over it – for now, like I said, cross your fingers – is kind of nice.

Eric: For the most part, I am in the middle; I don’t get too excited, but don’t get too down and depressed. With this, I did what I was programmed to do, as if I were swimming, “This is what I have to do, and this is how it has to be done.” We came up with a plan, stuck to it, and luckily it worked out very well for me. That’s what I do for swimming to achieve a goal – develop a plan, stick to it, and work on it. I had a great plan and a great team around me, and it worked out well. Having the leading doctors in the world on testicular cancer in your corner, having them help you on a daily basis and monitoring the test results, gives you a lot of confidence.

Eric: Never. My counts never got high enough to have the kind of concern that would have dictated surgery right away. Could that have happened? Sure, and we were prepared for it. That’s why I was being tested all the time. But that kind of media coverage put a lot of resistance in my path as far as people thinking I was choosing to threaten my own life by not having surgery right away. If it had come to that, we would have done surgery that day. All those tests, the doctors went through again and again. If there had been a change, I was being so well taken care of that I would have known.

Eric: That’s kind of what was hard from this whole thing; I wasn’t expecting to run into that, but I should have been prepared for it. I really did a good sense of how the media works this summer. Now, 99 percent of what I ran into was completely positive, but once in a while you get that one story with a doctor they put up there who doesn’t know my situation, and he says, “This is an aggressive form of cancer has to be treated immediately, what is this guy doing thinking the Olympics are more important than living!” That was so far off base. First of all, the doctors who commented did not know my situation, had not seen my diagnosis, or my test results. I had doctors testing me every single week, and if any levels would have risen, I would have stopped immediately and had surgery. The doctors who were involved knew everything about my case and advised me accordingly. They always made the cautious, smart choice.

Eric: It was tough for her, because she had no control over it! My girlfriend swam and went to World Championships in 2005, and she said, “It was awful being a spectator because you have no control. I’ll never watch you at a big meet again.” That’s how it was with the cancer, them having no control, and not knowing exactly what I was going through. They wanted the best for me, but they knew I was making an informed decision.

Eric: Obviously, yes, they gave me more than I could ask for, all were incredible.

[Eric Shanteau of the United States competes in the Men's 200m Breaststroke Semifinal 2 held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 5 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 13, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)]

Eric: I love it. Having a swimmer girlfriend means dating someone who knows what you are going through. It’s fantastic!

Eric: You would not believe how many times I have been asked that! Here’s the deal: I was never on Facebook in the first place! I know, can you believe that? All of you are on it, all my friends, but never me. I think when my story came out, it was kind of cool, I was told this girl started this group on Facebook, an inspirational group that had 3,000 or something members the first few days. I though that was the coolest thing ever! Facebook is cool for some people, but it’s just not for me. I’m not going anywhere near (laughs) Facebook.

Eric: It’s kind of weird that you said that, because right now I’m doing the whole speaking tour with being a cancer (awareness) advocate. I don’t want to be only identified for this, and as much as I have talked about it for almost three months – literally a daily basis – I will be taking a break from it at some point. It’s pretty overwhelming. At the same time, I survived it. People are affected by it. I can help. And I will.

Eric: It really has been amazing to talk to people. Absolutely, it has been something else. Because the way I looked at when I was going through it, I just couldn’t look at it as that big of a deal – that it was me, I mean. I admit I didn’t fully comprehend what I was doing, and how incredible the journey was. I just couldn’t think like that as I prepared for Trials and the Olympics. I knew I was going to swim, so I did what I was programmed to do, and figured I would just deal with everything else later. Looking back, it has been very cool how people have responded to me. No matter how many I have helped, even if it is just one –okay, maybe it has been more than that – then speaking about it and getting out in public has been very important.  I just had to grasp that I was put in that awareness-and-advocacy spotlight, and I’m very willing to be out front on that.

Eric: That’s what Jeri had said. Although I am sure there are a couple other Olympians out there who had it, but perhaps not competed with it in the Olympics. I survived cancer and went to the Olympics. I’m proud, humbled and grateful – and happy to be alive.

Eric: Yeah (laughs), that’s a whole different situation that has gone far beyond my knowledge at this point. It was a brutal year for me to watch for college football. I don’t even and will not claim the University of Texas as my own because I didn’t go here but hey, they have an amazing program and they have saved college football (laughs) for me! Most of Auburn’s games weren’t on TV. You had to have a special “college” plan. No one cared about the games, and they played all these small schools. I’d see the scores running across the bottom of the screen, and Auburn seemed to always be losing, especially to teams they shouldn’t be losing to. Halfway through the season, I was like, “Let’s just try to beat Alabama, who cares about the rest of the season if we win that game.” Yeah. Didn’t happen.

Eric: Outside the village, I don’t know (laughs) about eating that food. It was funny because inside the village, the food was great. We didn’t venture outside the village to eat all the much, even when we were done competing. We just went to the USA House and Bank of America and got food there. I went down to the market but I didn’t try anything – when it stares back at you, I just (laughs) can’t imagine eating it.

Eric: After I was done swimming, I did get out and see the Great Wall, and the Palace. It’s an amazing city, with a lot of history there. The Wall was the coolest thing. It was an interesting feeling to stand on something that is as old as that – thousands of years. That was definitely the highlight.

Eric: This was part of my acceptance speech at the Golden Goggles, and I will say it again: Everybody always talks about what a great team the National Team is. No one has had to deal with what I went through, and there has not been a National Team that had to deal with it. For them to respond how they did – with 100 percent support, was incredible. To have them as my family for eight weeks, the ones I was with day in and day out, was amazing. They were the ones who took care of me, brought me up on bad days and kept me up on good days. It was a great feeling to have those 40-plus girls and guys behind you.

Eric: It’s funny because Eddie, at his age – and I’ll get (laughs) in trouble for saying that! – is sharp as can be. Having him and Jon Urbanchek is amazing. Eddie very methodical, and the steps he takes are well thought out. He can come off (laughs) as bland, but that’s not him at all – he’s funny and laid back. I like having him not just as my coach, but the Olympic Coach.

Eric: Eddie having that group he had there was a huge attraction for me to come out there and train. And yes, for any coach to put eight members on an Olympic team is incredible. And then to do it on the U.S. Olympic team – the best Olympic team in the world, by far – is almost impossible, I feel. Six of eight guys got gold medals. That alone, I think can pretty much sum up coach Eddie Reese is. And he has 30 years of accolades that most coaches can’t even dream about.

Eric: I finished up three years ago. It’s funny because when I’m home for the holidays I see the college swimmers and kids at Swim Atlanta, and then you see me with the group, and I’m not even a college guy anymore – I am old! But I am going to continue to swim. I had a great short-course Nationals, and I’m looking to Worlds. I will probably continue to focus on the breaststroke at this point, but I will always be an IM’er, too.

Eric: I think as long as I am swimming, I will be in Austin. It’s an incredible city. As much as I am in Austin for swimming, I can see myself there for life after swimming for a while. Jeri has a job in Austin too, in medical sales. She just got a new job, and she is loving it. She’s diving right in, so to speak.

Eric: First and foremost, the easy and honest answer is just plain, “Thanks.” Let them know that I did get all the emails and letters – even the packages, and everything. I can’t thank all those people enough, because every thought, prayer and sentiment touched my heart and means so much to me. I can’t thank all of these people and I likely won’t be able to meet them all or even respond to everyone, but the fact that they took the time to send me their own story was the big inspiration that got me through this, especially during Olympic Training camp, I would sit and read those. So tell them thanks for being my teammates in this fight. They inspired me more than I could ever inspire them.