Mallory Swanson typically doesn’t like setting goals.
But for 14½ months, the 2024 Olympics in Paris represented Swanson’s objective, the culmination of a challenging comeback for the U.S. women’s national team and Chicago Red Stars standout.
A torn patella tendon in her left knee suffered during a national team friendly on April 8, 2023 — less than four months before the World Cup — was merely the beginning of a journey that tested Swanson’s fortitude and faith.
“Of course during the process all this stuff is happening, that doubt is creeping in, all of that,” Swanson recently told the Tribune. “I looked back at all that and honestly I was like, praise God that he got me to this place where I am right now. I’m thankful because I feel like I’m a completely different person.”
Swanson was in her car June 23, preparing to head into a Whole Foods, when USWNT coach Emma Hayes phoned her. Every call is nerve-wracking when the U.S. tournament rosters are selected, and it’s no different for a veteran like Swanson.
When she received the expected news from Hayes — that she had achieved her goal of being selected to the 18-player roster for Paris — Swanson, now a two-time Olympian, felt immediate gratitude.
“It was definitely the hardest year I’ve ever had in my career, in my life, so being able to come back from that is a huge moment where I can look at myself and be like, ‘Oh, I’m proud of myself,’” Swanson, 26, said. “Just taking the moment to really pause and reflect on how special it is because each Olympic Games is so different and you’re working together with not only your team but other athletes for your country. So it’s pretty cool, honestly.”
USWNT and Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher described feeling pure joy after receiving a text from Swanson confirming she got the coveted call.
“That goes hand in hand with what I’ve watched her do in the last 18 months,” Naeher told the Tribune. “To be on the field with her during the injury, you could see the pain, you could see the devastation and you could see all the emotion encapsulated in one moment.
“But just to watch the perseverance, watch the rehab, watch the daily grind, watch the tears, watch the celebrations of the milestones, being able to witness a lot of those milestones and being able to celebrate those with her as a team — that means more to me.
“What the outside world sees right now is her picking back up where she left off — which she is — but that doesn’t happen by accident. That happens with a lot of sacrifice.”
Swanson was in top form and set to star for the U.S. in last summer’s World Cup when she suffered the torn patella tendon and underwent surgery two days later.
The injury, however, was just the beginning of her ordeal. Ten days after the procedure, Swanson developed a serious infection in her knee that produced symptoms of a septic joint, requiring emergency surgery.
“The injury itself was hard, but the illness rocked my world,” Swanson said.
Her husband, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, was wrapping up a series in Oakland on April 19, 2023, when her situation started to become dire. She attempted to call him during the game, which he didn’t see until Mallory’s postgame text asking Dansby to call her as soon as the game ended.
He credited her sixth sense for picking up signs something was wrong.
“She just knew that something was off,” Dansby told the Tribune. “I was hopeful that maybe it was just from the procedure, like her body was going through a lot. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. You’d never in a million years think that something like that could happen.”
When the Cubs landed in Chicago that night, Dansby immediately headed to the hospital to be by Mallory’s side as she waited to be wheeled into surgery the next afternoon. The Cubs had a 1:20 p.m. home game, but he didn’t want to leave until her dad and aunt arrived from Colorado. They showed up around noon, giving Dansby enough time to make it to Wrigley Field for first pitch.
“People don’t know that side of it,” Mallory said. “He literally put on his uniform and went out and played while I was getting surgery and then came right back to the hospital and stayed overnight. It’s those little things and I was so thankful for that because those are scary times.”
Added Dansby: “Everyone has the same battles. Ours just happen to be on national television more often than not, and what we do is viewed more as entertainment for other people. But no matter who you are, in marriage, you always go through tough moments.
“She is very much the most important thing. The priority was obviously making sure she was taken care of.”
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson hugs his wife, Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, on opening day at Wrigley Field on March 30, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Swanson needed a PICC line to undergo six weeks of IV antibiotics to neutralize the infection. The path to both overcoming the illness and rehabbing her knee required patience and an understanding of how she operates when coming back from an injury.
Some people want to be around others and the team throughout the process. Others don’t, and Swanson puts herself among the second group.
She watched all the Red Stars games on TV until she was well enough to attend in person and said she caught only one World Cup game because they aired in the middle of the night from New Zealand and Australia.
“Being around it made me a little bit more sad that I wasn’t able to, so I had to fill my cup in other ways,” Swanson said. “And with that I realized you’re so much more than an athlete.”
Although Swanson laughs thinking back to how she wanted to learn to play the piano while she was sidelined, not realizing initially how tough the rehab process would be, the entire experience enlightened her perspective of the sport.
“I’m very blessed and fortunate to be able to do this as my career, but it’s a game and it’s supposed to be fun,” Swanson said. “Especially this season, like, I’m having so much fun. Probably the most fun that I’ve had in my career, professionally.
“Obviously there’s times during the last year where you lose hope and there’s no doubt that creeps in — not giving up and just keep going because I didn’t have an option. So when you put it like that, like that’s the only option, it’s, ‘OK, you have to do it.’”
As Swanson navigated unknowns over the last year, her faith, family and friends served as pillars in the process. Dansby, in particular, understands the demands of the pro athlete life and the way injuries can mentally and physically test even the best.
That can also mean understanding how they process things differently. Mallory, he noted, prefers to internalize everything. Dansby made sure throughout her recovery to frequently check how she was doing and not assume everything was OK. He also attended as many of her rehab sessions as he could.
“No matter how many people are by your side in that process, it can be a lonely journey doing rehab,” Dansby said. “She’s come out so much better than before, and she was able to really come to a comfortable place in just trusting God’s vision and plan for her and living faithfully in that. I’m just so happy for her getting to this point.
“Her genuine heart and nature is amazing. She’s got this care level that it’s hard to know unless you are around it all the time. She’s also really good at what she does. She amazes me every time I watch her.”
The U.S. begins Olympic pool play at 2 p.m. Thursday versus Zambia in Nice, France, the first test for the revamped team. Eight years after her first call-up to the senior national team, Swanson not only provides a dynamic, game-changing goal scorer, but also brings leadership to a squad coming together for the first time in a major tournament under Hayes.
For a team in transition with a fresh coaching regime in place, an opportunity to define its identity awaits.
“There’s so much good in newness and change,” Swanson said. “There’s a lot of positive things that come from that because as a team or an organization, you have to continue to evolve. And with that comes newness, so I look at it in that lens.”
After her ordeal, Swanson has a renewed appreciation and never takes anything for granted. That mentality and gratitude has carried onto the pitch.
In the four months she has been back in action, Swanson’s game has exuded joy. She quickly returned to form, tallying a team-best seven goals in 15 games for the Red Stars, tied for fourth in the National Women’s Soccer League. Beyond her elite skill set, Swanson’s presence is impossible to miss whether she’s in a Red Stars kit or wearing the USWNT crest.
After being denied a chance to take over the world stage last year, Swanson is poised to have a superstar-level impact on the U.S. quest to win Olympic gold for the first time since 2012.
“In my opinion, she’s one of the — if not the — best players in the world, and you still see her celebrating other people. You still see her wanting good things for other people,” Naeher said. “And that’s something that makes her special. People want to play with her. People enjoy playing alongside her.
“She’s one of those people, just a pure, genuine human, that you want to see good things happen for and you want to root for and you want to celebrate.”
