Pam Nimmo Squash Profile on SquashTalk

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SquashTalk Player Profiles Profile Index PSA players WISPA players Hall of fame players College players Junior players Teaching pros Player of the month		Pamela Nimmo, Scottish Star, seeks to return to top 20 Profiled by Rob Dinerman, Feb 2002 copyright © 2002, Squashtalk. Reproduction prohibited.			SQUASHTALK TODAY WISPA Vassar NAO Doubles WISPA Greenwich CT WISPA Rye NY RECENT EVENTS Junior Mens Worlds Men's World Open US 5 Man Teams Weymuller US Open CURRENT CONTENT Hall of Fame News Index Club Links Gear Links E-boast Newsletter (sign up now free)

		Pamela Nimmo, Edinburgh, Scotland Resides: Nottingham, England Age: 24. WISPA ranking: 21. Highest ranking: 15 Twenty-four years old and a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Nimmo is just starting to regain her form after a frightening experience during the winter of 2001 that caused her to miss that entire spring. In early January of that year, she started experiencing fatigue and breathing problems that worsened as the month progressed, to the point that on February 5th, having returned to her parents' home ostensibly merely to rest up for a few days, she saw a doctor, who ordered a series of exams that revealed an advanced case of deep-vein thrombosis, i. e. serious clots that had lodged in her lungs and the left side of her chest and were preventing her from breathing properly. That she attempted to play through this debilitating condition for weeks before finally surrendering to the discomfort and seeking medical assistance is a kind of morbid tribute to the perseverance of younger athletes and their determination to live up to the sometimes harmful macho ethic that asserts that to be a true athlete, one has to prove that she/she can "play hurt." The underlying cause appears to have been the many long transatlantic flights that all touring pros must endure and a number of which Nimmo had taken during that period of the season: one stretch had her flying from Europe to Rye, NY for an event, returning to Scotland, flying back to Greenwich, CT and then returning home, all in just 10 days! She was hospitalized for two weeks and required for months to take the blood thinner warfarin to dissolve those dangerous clots, which were actually interfering with her ability to get oxygen to a degree that caused her complexion to turn yellow, and it was nearly four months before she was permitted to resume playing squash, a sport she was introduced to by her parents at age 10. Though now off the warfarin and restored to full health, Nimmo still has to inject herself with a less aggressive blood thinner before taking any plane trip exceeding four hours, and she has been asked to take several other precautionary steps as well, like avoiding crossing her legs (and thereby restricting blood flow) and occasionally walking up and down the aisle, rather than remaining in her seat throughout the flight. She is still attempting to regain her pre-thrombosis form as well, though she feels that her ranking, which has dropped from a high just inside the top 15 to her current position at No. 21, will begin to climb again once she becomes more confident and increases her ability to generate pace. She often travels up to Yorkshire to train under tour veteran Suzanne Horner (ironically her first-round opponent and conqueress when Nimmo returned to action after her enforced lay-off in a small event in Seattle last summer) and these sessions have enhanced her progress substantially. Her aspirations received a major boost last September, when she was recognized for her potential contribution to Scottish sports with a £25,025 award from the Scottish Lottery fund. This award will be very significant in allowing her to obtain more professional coaching a training. Her eyes seem to dance in her freckled and expressive face when she discusses her competitive goals, suggesting an enthusiasm for the game and an optimism about the future that belies the potentially life-threatening medical storm that nearly engulfed her less than a year ago. Her best assets are her fitness and her exceptional reach, abetted by her long, slender legs and impressive wingspan. Cheery and optimistic by nature, Nimmo, who lost in the first round in Brooklyn to fourth seed Stephanie Brind, is nonetheless confident that, once she complements these traits with an upgrade in her offensive weaponry, she can exceed her pre-illness high water mark at No. 15 and continue her upward climb. You can reach Rob Dinerman by email at Email: rob@squashtalk.com


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