Austin Smith could just tell something wasn't right even though he was coming off a successful junior season for the West Virginia University men's swimming and diving team in 2018.
 
The Fishers, Indiana, resident had won a bronze medal at the Big 12 Championships in the platform dive and had earned top-eight finishes in the 1- and 3-meter dives.
 
He also qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in two events and was looking forward to improving upon his scores during his senior season in 2019. But then, things he could normally do with ease were becoming extremely difficult.
 
"I was coming back to Morgantown after a long summer and little things just started going wrong," he recalled. "I was having a hard time climbing up stairs and doing little things that wouldn't normally tire me out."
 
A visit to WVU Medicine for some extensive medical tests revealed that he had aplastic anemia, a condition that occurs when the body stops producing enough new blood cells.
 
"I found out I had about half the amount of oxygen and half the amount of red blood cells that I was supposed to," Smith said. "My white blood cell count was really far down with almost no immunity. I got checked into Ruby (Hospital) immediately, called my parents, and it was really scary.
 
"Once we found out it was aplastic anemia, there is not necessarily a cure, but you can get a bone marrow transplant, which is what I ended up doing," he said. "Basically, I went through a week of chemo where they knock down your immune system,and you have a 25 percent chance of matching your siblings to get a bone marrow transplant from them. They tested my brother initially and he was not a match, but luckily my sister was, which was a very cool thing."
 
During his recovery time away from the pool, Smith said his coaches, teammates and friends were extremely supportive.
 
"I had visitors nearly every day. It was about a six-week period that I was in the hospital and then they trusted my immune system enough to go out (on a limited basis)," he said. "From that point on, a couple of months passed and come Christmas break my mother was able to go back home, and I could actually move back into my house in Morgantown."
 
Soon, Smith began to feel well enough to return to resume training.
 
"At that point, that's when I started exercising, coming to the pool every day and being super clean. I still had a very limited diet, but every single day I did something that made me feel good about myself," he admitted. "Come springtime, I was starting to grow my hair back, I was feeling really good, and I was starting to dive again."
 
By the end of last summer, Smith had gotten back all of his dives.
 
Then, an important personal moment for him came last November when The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park was officially dedicated.
 
Austin was asked to perform the ceremonial first platform dive.
 
"That was the most nervous I think I've ever been to do a dive in front of all of these gracious donors," he said. "That was a really cool experience."
 
Equally cool is how well he's been performing this year. Twice, he's been named Big 12 Men's Diver of the Week, and he is looking forward to competing in front of friends and family at this year's Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Morgantown, beginning next Wednesday.
 
He is seeking to improve upon that third-place finish he earned in Austin, Texas, two years ago.
 
"It's an awesome experience to be able to go to these meets and show off what you've been working on and then to be named Big 12 Diver of the Week; that's an extra perk, and it's awesome," he said.
 
"It's great to see that your hard work is paying off. Having that makes me feel like I've reached my peak and heading into Big 12s and Zones, this is exactly where I want to be," Smith concluded.
 
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Scott Bartlett and is presented by our great friends at WVU Medicine.