A former Wolfville Triton, the second-year Acadia student was diagnosed in February 2013 with a malignant bone tumour in his hip.
He underwent surgery to remove the tumour, followed by a complete hip replacement and seven months of chemotherapy.
“The hip replacement was necessary to ensure that when the tumour was removed, it would lower the chances of anything coming back,” Ingham, now 20, said.
For someone who loved swimming as much as Ingham, the cancer diagnosis was devastating.
“It was pretty difficult to deal with at first,” he says, “but I kept a positive attitude all along.”
The treatment was successful.
“I’ve had no symptoms since,” he says, “and hopefully never will again.”
Passion for the water
In his first year at Acadia Ingham served as the manager of the Acadia swim teams under the head coach, the late David Fry, but his coaching career began with the Tritons.
“In between my hip replacement and my chemo, I had enough energy to help coach the Tritons,” he said.
Swimming is as much a part of life as breathing for Ingham. He started swimming with the Tritons in 2002, at age seven, and began swimming competitively two years later.
“Jeremy is a fantastic young man, and one of the hardest-working swimmers I’ve ever worked with,” former Tritons’ and Acadia head coach Chris Stone, now head coach of the Halifax Trojans, said Oct. 28.
Ingham had such a big impact on the Tritons that even before his illness, the club’s swimmer of the year award was renamed the Ingham Award in 2011, which Ingham termed “a nice honour.”
Ingham swam with the Tritons for eight years, before being forced to stop shortly before his cancer diagnosis.
Ingham wasn’t happy with the idea of never swimming competitively again.
“I love swimming. When I found out I couldn’t swim, I was really upset. When I wasn’t able to swim for a whole year…” - that was even more upsetting, he says.
Ingham remained involved in the sport, but he wanted more.
“I was at the swim meets (last year), and I wondered what it would be like to swim.”
At Acadia
“I started thinking about making a comeback,” Ingham says, and that ultimately led him to Acadia.
As a Wolfville native, he says, “there was a pretty good chance I’d end up at Acadia. I was looking at Dal for the academic side, knowing I’d probably never make the men’s swim team.”
He chose Acadia in the fall 2014, because he wanted to swim again.
“I thought there was a better chance of making the team here,” he says, adding the academic side was also appealing. The small numbers of the Acadia men’s swim team provided an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“I thought I’d give it a try because we needed the numbers,” he said. “Swimming is a very specific sport. There aren’t that many who are capable of swimming at the varsity level.”
Ingham said he would like to see the Acadia program grow bigger, referencing the swim camps offered through Dalhousie’s swim program when he was a kid.
“(Dal) had swim camps that kids from all over could attend,” he said. “I believe Acadia can have that same kind of impact. We’re doing workshops with kids at the Wolfville School, some of whom might end up being Tritons someday. We’re exposing them to swimming and helping them widen their horizons.”
Comeback kid
At his first AUS meet at UNB, Ingham was sixth in 200 backstroke, eighth in both 100 back and 200 IM and twelfth in 100 IM.
“I was happy with those results,” he says. “I was very happy with the 100 back because I had done the 100 IM just before.”
He has always tended to choose less popular events, he says, because there aren’t as many swimmers.
“There’s a better chance of picking up points for the team,” he adds.
Being part of the team is a dream come true.
“I never thought I’d be where I am. Every day now is a good day, and even the bad days aren’t as bad as they were before,” Ingham said.
Throughout his battle with cancer, “I just did what I thought I had to do to keep on going,” he said.
“I’m very thankful things have gone the way they have.”
For the rest of the season, he is looking to build on his early results.
“My goal is to be faster in my main events than before any of this happened. I’d like to try and place top-eight in at least three of my top four events,” he said.
Ingham isn’t certain what he’ll do after Acadia. When he was younger, he was leaning toward engineering, but since his diagnosis he has shifted focus.
“I’m now thinking of medicine or life sciences, maybe something connected with cancer,” he says.
“(My experience) has shaped both my life and my long-term goals.”
Whatever may come, it’s certain that swimming will be involved.
“I’ve always been in good condition, and even when I wasn’t feeling great, I always felt fairly optimistic.”
A former Wolfville Triton, the second-year Acadia student was diagnosed in February 2013 with a malignant bone tumour in his hip.
He underwent surgery to remove the tumour, followed by a complete hip replacement and seven months of chemotherapy.
“The hip replacement was necessary to ensure that when the tumour was removed, it would lower the chances of anything coming back,” Ingham, now 20, said.
For someone who loved swimming as much as Ingham, the cancer diagnosis was devastating.
“It was pretty difficult to deal with at first,” he says, “but I kept a positive attitude all along.”
The treatment was successful.
“I’ve had no symptoms since,” he says, “and hopefully never will again.”
Passion for the water
In his first year at Acadia Ingham served as the manager of the Acadia swim teams under the head coach, the late David Fry, but his coaching career began with the Tritons.
“In between my hip replacement and my chemo, I had enough energy to help coach the Tritons,” he said.
Swimming is as much a part of life as breathing for Ingham. He started swimming with the Tritons in 2002, at age seven, and began swimming competitively two years later.
“Jeremy is a fantastic young man, and one of the hardest-working swimmers I’ve ever worked with,” former Tritons’ and Acadia head coach Chris Stone, now head coach of the Halifax Trojans, said Oct. 28.
Ingham had such a big impact on the Tritons that even before his illness, the club’s swimmer of the year award was renamed the Ingham Award in 2011, which Ingham termed “a nice honour.”
Ingham swam with the Tritons for eight years, before being forced to stop shortly before his cancer diagnosis.
Ingham wasn’t happy with the idea of never swimming competitively again.
“I love swimming. When I found out I couldn’t swim, I was really upset. When I wasn’t able to swim for a whole year…” - that was even more upsetting, he says.
Ingham remained involved in the sport, but he wanted more.
“I was at the swim meets (last year), and I wondered what it would be like to swim.”
At Acadia
“I started thinking about making a comeback,” Ingham says, and that ultimately led him to Acadia.
As a Wolfville native, he says, “there was a pretty good chance I’d end up at Acadia. I was looking at Dal for the academic side, knowing I’d probably never make the men’s swim team.”
He chose Acadia in the fall 2014, because he wanted to swim again.
“I thought there was a better chance of making the team here,” he says, adding the academic side was also appealing. The small numbers of the Acadia men’s swim team provided an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“I thought I’d give it a try because we needed the numbers,” he said. “Swimming is a very specific sport. There aren’t that many who are capable of swimming at the varsity level.”
Ingham said he would like to see the Acadia program grow bigger, referencing the swim camps offered through Dalhousie’s swim program when he was a kid.
“(Dal) had swim camps that kids from all over could attend,” he said. “I believe Acadia can have that same kind of impact. We’re doing workshops with kids at the Wolfville School, some of whom might end up being Tritons someday. We’re exposing them to swimming and helping them widen their horizons.”
Comeback kid
At his first AUS meet at UNB, Ingham was sixth in 200 backstroke, eighth in both 100 back and 200 IM and twelfth in 100 IM.
“I was happy with those results,” he says. “I was very happy with the 100 back because I had done the 100 IM just before.”
He has always tended to choose less popular events, he says, because there aren’t as many swimmers.
“There’s a better chance of picking up points for the team,” he adds.
Being part of the team is a dream come true.
“I never thought I’d be where I am. Every day now is a good day, and even the bad days aren’t as bad as they were before,” Ingham said.
Throughout his battle with cancer, “I just did what I thought I had to do to keep on going,” he said.
“I’m very thankful things have gone the way they have.”
For the rest of the season, he is looking to build on his early results.
“My goal is to be faster in my main events than before any of this happened. I’d like to try and place top-eight in at least three of my top four events,” he said.
Ingham isn’t certain what he’ll do after Acadia. When he was younger, he was leaning toward engineering, but since his diagnosis he has shifted focus.
“I’m now thinking of medicine or life sciences, maybe something connected with cancer,” he says.
“(My experience) has shaped both my life and my long-term goals.”
Whatever may come, it’s certain that swimming will be involved.
“I’ve always been in good condition, and even when I wasn’t feeling great, I always felt fairly optimistic.”
