Anna Swanson, nursing student and women's track and field athlete at the University of St. Thomas, recently spoke with the Star Tribune about how far she has come since a serious car accident left her hospitalized in August 2023 - only about eight months before she set the school record for the javelin throw.
From the story:
Swanson was airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Doctors told her that it was unclear if she would ever compete again.
She didn't accept that answer. She told her coach the night before surgery that she would throw a javelin again, even if she couldn't run.
Sure enough, there she was 265 days later, April 6, her first meet since the accident, down to her final throw. She let it rip — 47.5 meters, or 155 feet, 10 inches. The longest throw of her career and a St. Thomas record...
St. Thomas had just launched a nursing school and recently transitioned to Division I athletics. Swanson emailed Tommies javelin coach Ryan Ness to ask if she could join the team after being admitted into the nursing program. She set a school record and placed second in the Summit League championships last year.
Swanson was home in Osceola in July, driving to a dentist appointment when an oncoming car drifted across the center line on a two-lane highway, struck a pickup truck near Swanson and slammed into the front of her car. All three drivers survived...
Read more about Anna Swanson and other D-I student-athletes making a difference at St. Thomas
At the hospital, Swanson asked that someone contact her new boyfriend, Andrew Anstoetter. They had been dating for a month. He works as an engineer in Decorah, Iowa, and had only met her parents once...
Two weeks before she launched that record javelin throw, Anna and Andrew took a spring break trip to Texas. They went for a walk one day, and there on a bluff overlooking the Brazos River, Andrew asked Anna a question.
She said yes.
