Dr. Ron Karnaugh, once an Olympic swimmer, now helps athletes recover from injuries.
TEWKSBURY -- As Dr. Ron Karnaugh watches all the swimming events in this year's Olympics, he thinks back to when he was there.
It was 1992 in Barcelona, and Karnaugh had recently been ranked second in the world in the 200 meter Individual Medley. "You do 50 of each stroke," he said Wednesday. "It's like the decathlon in track and field. You have to be able to do it all."
Tragedy struck at the Olympic opening ceremonies, however, when Karnaugh's dad suffered a heart attack and died. Six days later Karnaugh, whom Sports Illustrated had favored to bring home silver, finished his race in sixth place.
"It was the darkest moment of my life," he recalled. "It was a big loss, and my father was not there with me."
A stranger stepped in and made a difference that Karnaugh says changed everything.
George Steinbrenner was vice chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and he paid Karnaugh's tuition to attend medical school in Newark.
"More importantly, he was there for me emotionally," Karnaugh said. "He was there to support me and get me through that difficult moment of my life."
Karnaugh said Steinbrenner was "like my father was, very strict," and he checked up on Karnaugh's progress over the years. "For him to take me under his wing like that -- we were very close until he died."
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Looking back 24 years later, Karnaugh puts his Olympic experience in perspective. "I got a lot more out of the Olympics than probably if I'd won a gold medal," he said.
"I learned a lot from my experience at Barcelona. I learned how to deal with adversity and handle pressure." And Steinbrenner's support "made me a better person," he said. "My work ethic, dedication and perseverance transitioned into my medical school education and training."
Swimming the individual medley is "such a technical event," Karnaugh said, between turns, kicks, and transitioning from one stroke to another. "I'd spend five hours in a pool, training for a 2-minute race," he said. "You develop a work ethic. I've lost races by several hundredths of a second, and won races by several hundredths. You've got to pull it together all at one time."
He's now a back pain specialist at the Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison, channeling his efforts toward collecting detailed medical histories and scans, and coming up with accurate diagnoses and treatment plans.
Treating a teenage swimmer has brought his experience full circle. Devon Black was swimming competitively at age 12, and then a year later suffered a herniated disc in her lumbar spine. Using an X-ray guided needle, Karnaugh injected a steroid solution to just the right spot in her spine, and that's done the trick. "She's back in the pool now," he said. "She trained all summer and was racing all summer."
Karnaugh's experience as a swimmer helps him guide injured athletes through rehabilitation, he said. He's had his share of injuries, shoulder and back among them. "It's difficult to cope with injury where it's a setback," he said. "Whenever I had to deal with a setback as an athlete, I tried to take away something positive from it.
"Being dormant, lying around thinking about the injury is difficult to accept, and it's depressing," he said. "I'm able to advise athletes like Devon to refocus, and look at the injury in a different way. They can work on other areas of training while the injury heals." For Devon, core-strengthening exercises were part of keeping in shape while her back healed.
Working with Devon has been enjoyable, Karnaugh said. "It's been fun to give back to the sport I love," he said. "I can mentor Devon not only as her treating physician, but as someone who's competed in her sport at a high level. It's fulfilling to give back to the sport that did so much for me."
Karnaugh doesn't broadcast his Olympic past unless he's asked about it, though he has worn his Olympic jacket on visits to Tewksbury Elementary School where he's shared his story.
Olympic swimming has changed a lot since his day, he said, with the underwater kicking after turns and the buoyant bathing suits. "I used to do three to four kicks after a turn, going 5 to 8 meters off the wall," he said. "Now they're kicking to the 15 meter mark. It's almost like a fifth stroke." The changes seem to have enhanced the times and performances, he said.
Still, looking at the 200 meter IM semifinal, "My best time would have put me in 10th place," he said. "That's not bad for 24 years later."
Karnaugh sees what he does now as a continuation of what started more than two decades ago. "I can extend this Olympic journey further, having an impact on athletes and others."
Sallie Graziano may be reached at sgraziano@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SallieGraziano. Find NJ.com on Facebook.