An Olympic champ in spite of Crohn’s
Kathleen Baker was terrified when she researched Crohn’s disease. Cause unknown. Cutting out intestines. No cure. “It was like I found every horror story there ever was,” Baker said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come out: I want there to be a positive story.
“I want people to know that, even with Crohn’s, I’ve been able to accomplish something significant.”
Eight years after her diagnosis, Baker has two Olympic medals and is on pace to earn a degree from Cal as she leads the Bears’ swimming and diving team into this week’s NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
The 12-person team is expected to finish among the nation’s top three for the 10th consecutive year, largely because Baker has beaten back the symptoms of her disease to become dominant in the swimming world.
“I know we’re set up really well and meant to go out there and win every relay,” said Baker, who swam the lead leg of the gold-medal-winning 400-meter medley relay team in the Rio Olympics and finished second in the 100-meter backstroke. “The college meets are awesome. They’re so team-oriented, and every point matters. It’s nice to feel like you’re behind every single teammate for every one of their races.
“We always say that the NCAAs are exhausting, because you swim every single one of your teammates’ races, too.”
Baker doesn’t just throw around words like “exhausting.” She’s lived it. Having already broken two national records by the age of 12, Baker started feeling awful around that time. The stomach pain and cramping was crippling, and she was in what felt like a constant state of suffering from vomiting or diarrhea.
She was running an alarming fever and had lost 10 percent of her body weight.
Her mother tried to feed her cheeseburgers and cheesecake in an attempt to keep on the calories as what Baker described as “millions of doctor’s appointments” came up empty on the reason behind all of the torture.
“I was crushed,” Baker said of her yearlong symptoms before being officially diagnosed with Crohn’s. “I remember thinking: ‘I love swimming. Why would they do this to me? This is taking away all of my dreams.’
“Luckily, I had really great parents and coaches. They just said there were going to be speed bumps.”
Versions of Crohn’s or colitis, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases that cause overwhelming abdominal pain and can lead to intestinal blockage and death, affect about 1.6 million Americans.
Baker tried choking down 14 pills a day and getting IV infusions every five weeks before she discovered the current maintenance regimen that includes twice-a-day injections to her abdomen.
“There’s not a day that I don’t have to think about it or adapt to something,” Baker said. “But having Crohn’s disease has made me enjoy swimming a million times more.
“It’s made me appreciate a lot of what I’ve been able to do.” And she expects more. After the two Olympic medals in 2016, Baker won three more at the World Championships in Budapest. Next she’ll focus on the Pan-Pacific Games.
“My love for swimming really stands out,” Baker said. “There’s nothing I love more than swimming, and I’m a pretty big swim nerd. I like to watch any swim meet that’s on, and I know all the times. I enjoy every aspect of it. I swim from a place of enjoyment.”
Unable to express that joy through her goggles and swim cap, Baker paints her nails before every meet.
Always with sparkles of gold.