Cancer survivor Shanteau targets World Championship berth

Eric Shanteau, who booked his Olympic berth last year under the shadow of a cancer diagnosis, faces far fewer uncertainties this week as he fights to make the US swimming World Championship team.

"My overall health is fantastic," said Shanteau, who led the way into the finals of the 100m breaststroke at the US trials on Tuesday with an impressive time of 59.89sec.

"I had one last round of blood tests, so I am good to go for the rest of the summer. I am just coming up on 10 months cancer-free."

Shanteau's sizzling time in Tuesday's heats made him just the second American, along with Brendan Hansen, to break one minute in the event.

He credited the performance to hard work in the early season and perhaps, just a bit, to his new Arena X-Glide swimsuit.

"I got it in the mail on Friday, swam in it Sunday," Shanteau said of the part-polyeurethane X-Glide, one of the controversial new super-suits linked to a spate of world records. "This was the first time I raced in it."

While Shanteau said the suit was a contributing factor, he didn't think it was the key.

"Regardless of this suit or any other suit, I'm going to be under a minute this week," he said.

Unlike last year, when his preparations for the US Olympic Trials were thrown into turmoil when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Shanteau has been able to focus on swimming.

He put his concerns aside last year and qualified to swim the 200m breaststroke in Beijing, postponing surgery until after the Games.

Hailed by his Olympic teammates as an inspiration in China, Shanteau said his decision to talk about his illness in public had helped him cope.

But the 25-year-old acknowledged that the disease had changed his life.

"I definitely haven't conquered it yet," he said. "This happened less than a year ago.

"When I was on a speaking tour this Fall, people were like, 'You just had surgery three months ago and you're out here talking about it.'

"That has helped me deal with it, but at the same time has kind of kept me from taking a step back and actually thinking about everything I went through...

"There's still a chance of a recurrence... It's not something I'm letting bother me."

While pleased with his time, and his first experience of the X-Glide, Shanteau said his only real concern was a top-two finish in the finals needed to punch his ticket to the World Championships in Rome.

With Hansen absent, Shanteau was especially keen to seize a chance to get the nod to swim the breaststroke leg in the final of the 4x100m medley relay in Rome.

"That's all I'm thinking about," he said.