“God blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.”

Those were Anna Swanson’s words shortly after winning the 2024 Summit League Track and Field Outdoor Championship for javelin and breaking the St. Thomas record for the second time in the Spring 2024 season.

“It’s just the cherry on top, everything was building to this point,” Swanson said. “This season was better than I had ever imagined it to be … It was really fun to have all my family and friends here to support me … A lot of my teammates came, which was super fun.”

Swanson’s title also marked St. Thomas’ first conference championship in school history in the Summit League. She also received the Comeback Athlete of the Year – Women’s Teams at the 2024 Tommie Choice Awards.

Swanson’s comeback didn’t always seem possible.

Shortly after transferring from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and setting the then St. Thomas’ record for javelin in Spring 2023, Swanson suffered devastating, life-threatening injuries in a car accident in July 2023.

The crash left her with a fractured pelvis in five places, a torn labrum and a laceration in her right lower leg. Swanson found herself with the possibility of never throwing javelin again.

“They initially said I was never gonna throw,” Swanson said. “I remember the doctors in the hospital telling me that … I just cried to my mom because I was just like, ‘I’ve worked so hard to get to this point’ and then for it to all be taken away, or so I thought.”

Against all odds and nine months later, Swanson arrived back in competition with a boom. On April 6, 2024, at the Ashton May Invitational, Swanson broke her St. Thomas javelin throw record that she set in 2023.

Women’s track and field coach, Ashley Lucas, was there to witness the throw and said a little friendly venom sparked Swanson.

“She (Swanson) was all fired up when her teammate threw pretty well and made some ‘It is your turn comments.’ I think that aided in her throwing well, too. I’m always big on ‘iron sharpens iron,’” Lucas said.

A 47.50-meter dagger (155 feet, 10 inches) on her last throw of the competition signified the summit of Swanson’s recovery and comeback to competing.

“It seemed really fast that I was able to come back and compete … I was just hoping to get a mark and maybe throw 40 (meters), which is a good start of the season,” Swanson said.

Swanson said that up to that point, she had never thrown with all four of her teammates in the same event, making the meet have an encompassing “fun atmosphere.”

“A lot of girls look up to her and her work ethic. … A lot of them think we don’t need people to tell us what we can or cannot be,” Lucas said.

But an athlete’s career can be a rollercoaster, and in Swanson’s case, adversity struck but couldn’t knock her out.

Swanson said that when her father, Jim Swanson, arrived at the scene, he was met with a shapeless car: a testament to the severity of the accident just moments prior.

​​“When my dad came up to the scene of the accident, he thought whoever was in that car was dead, then when he got closer, he realized that was my car,” Swanson said.

Lucas remembered her emotions shortly after she received the call detailing what had happened to her thrower.

“As a coach, that’s probably one of the most horrifying calls that you can get. They’re not my biological children, but I do still consider them all like my own,” Lucas said. “To come back and throw better than she did last year, now that is a first to me”

From her first conversations with doctors, Swanson knew she was not going to be at 100% compared to her physical condition before the accident.

The car accident was Swanson’s first injury in her career. Swanson had several long months ahead of her, and she described her comeback as a “full-time job.”

“At first, it was hard to get my body to do track or javelin again … Just trusting that I had worked up to that point,” Swanson said.

Swanson said that she attributes her faith, family, fiance and teammates as the lighthouse in her journey through the unknown.

“I always know that God has a plan for my life and that whatever happens it’s gonna work out for good. So if I was in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, he’s going to use me in that sense,” Swanson said.

Swanson recalled a moment when her teammates visited her at the hospital and gave her a journal.

“I just remember writing on there, ‘Thank you God for life’ and then that was it, I started crying, I couldn’t write anymore. I was like, ‘I literally could have died in that car accident,’” Swanson said.

Swanson was discharged four days after the accident, in great part because of her mom, Sara Swanson.

“She would be in there taking care of me every single day. So they knew when they’d let me go home that she was gonna be there to take care of me,” Swanson said.

It was truly a team and family effort for Anna and the Swanson family. For 10 weeks she slept close to her mom, while her dad slept downstairs.

Her fiance, Andrew Anstoetter, would come and visit her every single weekend.

“I had a wheelchair, walker, crutches, a shower chair and he would take care of everything,” Swanson said.

Another prominent figure was Swanson’s physical therapist, whom she worked with at home.

“She was super helpful because she knew what it was like to be a college athlete and she threw javelin in high school … It was really sweet to work with her and she is super knowledgeable,” Swanson said.

The Osceola, Wisconsin, native did not start with javelin. She began with 400 and 800-meter track races while also doing cross country.

Swanson first tried javelin at Saint Mary’s University before the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Saint Mary’s, she racked up numerous accolades that include being the 2021 female athlete of the year, 2021 NCAA outdoor All-American, and 2022 MIAC outdoor champion in javelin.

After completing a degree in biology in three years, she transferred to St. Thomas to pursue a Master’s Nursing degree.

At St. Thomas, she would again excel at competitions, having six top-10 finishes in the 2023 spring outdoor season and taking first place in the Holst Invitational and the St. Thomas Joe Sweeney Invitational.

Yet as a nursing student, Anna Swanson never imagined she would be on the other side of the healthcare system.

“I learned a lot in this experience through being the patient instead of the caretaker. I think this experience will make me a better nurse someday. I have been in that hospital bed not able to do anything for myself so I will be able to show my patients true empathy someday,” Swanson said.

Swanson said that she has always loved healthcare and her mom being a nurse naturally inclined her to pursue a career in that field.

“I always asked her a million questions every night about work, and just love helping and taking care of people. That’s like the most cliche answer, but yeah, it’s true,” Swanson said.

Swanson now conveys a message to not take life for granted, to make a difference and to enjoy each moment.

“I think this world kind of teaches us to always be looking towards the future and what’s next instead of actually being present in the moment … as athletes we have a hard time with that,” Swanson said.

Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.