Katie Hoff, a three-time 2008 Olympic medalist, withdrew from the World Short Course Championships in Doha, Qatar, in December, because she’s been advised against international air travel following two blood clots in her lungs.
“I do not believe it would be right for me to [compete at Short Course Worlds] when I am not 100 percent,” Hoff said in a statement, according to Swimming World.
Hoff, 25, pulled out of three events and was 27th in the 100m freestyle at the U.S. Championships in August. She thought she was slowed by an intercostal strain at that meet but since learned the problem was the blood clots.
She’s not traveling internationally as a precaution, she said. Hoff plans to enter the Minneapolis Grand Prix in two weeks and a full schedule in 2015. Hoff took a yearlong sabbatical after failing to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
Nick Thoman, the London Olympic 100m backstroke silver medalist, also pulled out of Short Course Worlds. Thoman dealt with a shoulder injury for much of 2014 after taking time off after the Olympics.
Conor Dwyer focused on Doha after losing Michael Phelps, Yannick Agnel
