“Before the tonic clonic seizure, I had spent the summer doing two a day swim practices, teaching swim lessons, and waking up early,” age group athlete Whitney Stortz recalled. “What we didn’t know is that I was not going to bed early enough or getting enough rest. My trigger for seizures is exhaustion.”

Whitney Stortz, a current 17-year-old swimmer at Maverick Aquatics, has had to learn a lot about her body and how to prioritize rest in the last five years. For her, it started in sixth grade.

“My mom had been noticing I had been zoning out, or what she thought was ignoring people, when someone would speak to me,” remembered Stortz of when her first symptoms arose. “It progressed to zoning out and eye fluttering for 5-10 seconds at a time. During these, I didn’t know what was going on or remember anything.”

In these moments, Stortz couldn’t hear or see anything, let alone respond. Her mom, Joanna Stortz, would inquire about what was going on or what she was so deep in thought about, but Whitney always responded with confusion and no recollection of anyone speaking to her.

“During a swim meet my mom was on the opposite end timing, and when the buzzer sounded to start, apparently, I did not move,” Stortz shared. “A few seconds later, I saw everyone was in the water and (I) jumped in. Everyone was concerned, but I didn’t remember hearing the buzzer or seeing everyone leaving the blocks. At the time, we thought maybe I was dehydrated.”

Less than a year later, Stortz was at her primary doctor for a routine exam when her mom mentioned these ‘zoning out’ events. Her doctor immediately said it sounded like absence seizures, which can generally be dismissed as a child ignoring others.

Her doctor ordered an EEG, which confirmed absence seizures. Stortz was later referred to Children’s Hospital in Denver, where she was officially diagnosed with a seizure disorder and generalized non-convulsive epilepsy in February of 2020.

“Absence seizures were under control for the most part with medication,” Stortz said. “Other than if I missed (my) medication or was overly sick or tired.”

Two years later, another EEG was performed, which eventually led to a diagnosis of tonic clonic seizures. This meant that full convulsive seizure episodes could happen. She still remembers the aftermath of experiencing her first full convulsive seizure.

“On August 9, 2023, the first day of my junior year, my mom, brother Logan, and I were getting ready to leave for school. My mom and brother heard an odd noise, and when my mom went to check on me, she found me in a full convulsive seizure in my bedroom. At that point, my epilepsy had advanced to tonic clonic.”

Stortz had to adjust her medications for the new seizures. That included five pills in the morning and again at night, with the ability to lower over time.

“I was able to lower one and now take four pills morning and night,” Stortz said. “This helps keep my seizures under control.”

Even though she was under 18 years old, it was recommended to switch her care to a local adult neurologist who could provide more support.

“I couldn’t swim for two months following my seizure,” Stortz remembered. “My neurologist could not release me until we knew how my body would react to the new medication. It is very high risk to be in the water when having active seizures. I was afraid of having one in the pool and potentially drowning.”

As it can quickly become a life-threatening situation if not handled properly, fear became a new harsh reality for the sport she loves so much.

“I started going to therapy because my mind didn’t trust my body anymore,” Stortz said. “I could not do anything without feeling scared. I could barely make it to school, and it was really hard to attend practice. I felt completely lost.”

“I lost a lot of confidence in myself and in my ability to perform in swimming. It took me eight months to be confident enough to push myself at practice and in meets without fear of giving myself a seizure. I was convinced that it would happen again and had to relearn how to trust my body.”

Support for getting back in the water was crucial. It involved a lot of open communication and trust between Stortz, her family, and her team.

“My coaches (Ed Stehlin, Janet Ryan, and Dejan Urbanek), Maverick Aquatics, and the CMU facility were very supportive,” Stortz stated. “They made accommodations to ensure my safety, like letting me swim in the first lane so my coach could see me clearly. It’s also easily accessible to the CMU lifeguards.”

“Coach Dejan let me push myself as much as I thought I could,” Stortz explained. “But he also would change sets for me to make them easier. Coach Dejan made sure I was navigating slowly in the beginning phases to take care of my health, even when I wanted to push myself more than I was ready for at the moment. His main concern was me and my health, which was very much appreciated. Dejan knew I loved swimming, and how difficult this was for me, so he literally did everything in his power to get me back to where I was.”

“You feel like an imposter almost; you go to practice, and it’s already scary, but you also feel like you shouldn’t be there, and you don’t deserve to be there because you can’t do the sets. (You think to yourself), what is the point of being here if I can’t do what I am supposed to do? Everything feels so scary, (I felt like) everybody was watching and judging me. I felt disconnected from everything.”

Eventually, Stortz felt safe enough to participate in meets again.

“The first swim meets back were tough,” Stortz said. “Not because of endurance, but because of the mental aspect and being scared. Because of this, it made it really hard to just be present, let alone go fast. I would tell my mom, ‘No one else knows how hard this is. They all get to push their bodies, not sleep, and don’t have to worry about seizures.’”

“Within four months of returning to the pool, I was not only matching my times but slowly improving them. Fast forward one year later, I have dropped significant amounts of time in all of my best events and have verbally committed to Drury University to continue my academic and swimming journey. I start this Fall.”

Learning to balance rest and pushing herself in the water is something Stortz and her community are still improving upon every day.

“Still to this day, my coaches watch to make sure I am getting enough rest,” Stortz states. “They will accommodate me leaving meets when I am done swimming. They truly care about me and believe in me and my swimming abilities.”

When asked about advice Stortz would give to anyone else going through the same situation, she talked about consistency and resources.

“Consistency is key,” Stortz said. “The more I pushed myself to go to practice, no matter how scared I was, the less scary it was. Talk to a therapist, talk to someone. Be patient with yourself. It sucks, but you can’t do what you want to do sometimes. Just keep chipping away and you will be fine. You can’t do what you want to do, but you can do what’s best for you in the moment.”

Lastly, she said, “Communicate with your coaches and peers. We have to work much harder outside of the pool to be able to compete. Let others help you; don’t try to do it by yourself.”