Playing in pain, part 6

Today's LA Times profiles Brian Annett, a 15-year-old swimmer with ankylosing spondylitis who nonetheless has qualified for a preliminary berth in the 100-metre backstroke. (It's worth noting that the backstroke is, according to my notes, the one athletic activity that people with even advanced AS can do.) To the article's credit, it pulls no punches about the disease's severity and doesn't make Annett out as a role model for his teammates -- which is something I've had issues with in similar stories in the past (see previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).