Double Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lewis Clareburt has been sidelined with a fractured arm after falling off a skateboard on the Gold Coast, but says he should be back in full training within a month.
The 23-year-old had been on the Gold Coast training for the upcoming world surf lifesaving championships since the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games. He was skateboarding with a friend along the esplanade two weeks ago when the fall occurred.
"There was a beer fest in one of the parks...we stopped and I was just standing on my board and not really paying attention, and fell backwards weird on my arm," Clareburt said.
"I knew straight away that something wasn't right because I felt like I was going to faint."
A subsequent scan in Australia failed to show any damage, but when Clareburt continued to feel pain a few days later, he decided to fly home.
An MRI showed Clareburt had fractured the radial head in his right arm. The injury doesn't require a cast, but he cannot bear weight on the arm for a month.
It means the country's top swimmer will be unable to do much training outside of kicking, however, he was grateful the injury wasn't any worse.
"Out of all the possibilities, this is reasonably minor. I'm already feeling a lot better," Clareburt told 1News.
While he was disappointed to miss the surf lifesaving championships that begin this weekend in Italy, he said it couldn't have come at a better time in his swimming calendar.
"If it was going to happen, now is the best time. It's the end of a busy season, I'd probably be on a break anyway."
Clareburt is aiming to be back in the water competing in local meets in around a month, and said he'd "definitely" be competing at the Queensland State champs in December.
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