Swimmer Emily Silver breaks hand, but still planning on Beijing

OMAHA, Neb. — Bainbridge's Emily Silver broke two fingers on her right hand coming into the wall Saturday night in the semifinals of the 50 freestyle, but the injury is not expected to keep her from making the trip or competing in Beijing.

Suffice it to say that this injury is Silver's version of "been there, done that." She's had this same injury twice before in her swimming career, both times the result of her coming in too hard to the wall in a sprint. The last time this happened was in 2006, four months before the meet to select the members of the 2007 World Championship, World University Games and Pan American Games teams.

Silver went on to make the World University Games team and win a relay gold (400 freestyle) and silver (400 medley relay) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bob Silver said his daughter will most likely have surgery Monday morning in California and then wear a waterproof cast for a week. She will be able to continue training for Beijing despite the injury. She qualified as an alternate for the 400 freestyle relay Friday night with her fifth-place finish in the 100 freestyle.

"She took at extra stroke coming into the wall and jammed her fingers," explained her father, who was in Omaha cheering her on. "She knew right away something was wrong, and having done this before, suspected she'd broken something. She had X-rays in Omaha and found out she'd broken her index and middle finger on her right hand. She'll be fine for the Olympics. Nothing could keep her off of that team. She's so excited."

Olympic team training commences Tuesday in Palo Alto, California, and she will make the trip after surgery.

Mark Schubert, USA's national team coach, said he expects Silver to be on the Olympic team.

"Unless her doctor says she can't swim, Emily is on the team and will be on the team," Schubert said.

Bob said his daughter is back in California in very good spirits and anxious to get back in the water soon to prepare for the Olympic Games.

"Her hand is a little sore, but she's been here before and knows what to expect," said Silver, who swam on the same Indiana University team with Mark Spitz in the early 1970s. "We didn't even know she'd broken it until we saw her after the meet Saturday. She told me everything was fine and that the worst thing they could do was tell her she couldn't go to Beijing, and the second worst was that she couldn't swim.

"But she thrives on this kind of thing. She's very determined, and if I know my daughter, this will motivate her even more to go faster in Beijing.