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University wrestler competing and winning just months after having baby

Most wrestlers worry about making weight — but Jasmine Slinn did not even wait to lose her baby weight before she was back on the mat.

Many sportswomen have returned to competition not long after giving birth. Few who do so are as young as Slinn, who grapples for the University of Regina Cougars. This winter, the 21-year-old returned to the mat less than three months after having her daughter Kiahna last September. Last week, 11 months after she and her coaches mapped out a plan where she could return to competition quickly, she won a gold medal at the Canada West university championships. It's all part of a path she hopes leads to representing this country in the 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics.

"Throughout my whole pregnancy, I knew I was going to come back but I knew it was going to take a lot of work," says Slinn, who's competing in the same 48-kilogram weight class that she did before having her daughter last Sept. 8. "Having a healthy pregnancy helped. I don't know what it was but I think I just wanted it so badly. My dream is to go to the Olympics. This was like going back to work, me going back to what I enjoy doing."

The former two-time Canadian junior champion recalls that she had a swirl of emotions last winter when she and boyfriend Garfield Walker learned of her pregnancy.

"I felt like a lot of people down when I found out I was pregnant," says Slinn, whose next challenge is the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships next weekend in Thunder Bay. "Then my family sat down and thought about it. Everything happens for a reason. I just accepted that I'm having a baby.

"At first I was feeling, 'ohhhhh.' Not regret, but I thought about how I have a lot of people, my coaches and family, who put a lot of time into me. But I thought I would just continue on. I told myself I wasn't going to quit."

Slinn notes she's blessed with a great support system both as a wrestler and a young mum. Still, when she sat down in March 2011 with the stakeholders in her wrestling career — such as U of Regina coach Leo McGee and her personal coach Dan McGee, who's on the board of directors of Wrestling Canada — there was reasonable skepticism about whether this was doable.

"This is not like a broken leg or a broken thumb," says Leo McGee. "This is life-changing. And I think with her, it's been a very, very positive thing.

"I always expected there would be a little bump," adds McGee. "It would be so easy for somebody in that position to walk away from it. But she has a tremendous support group around her."

Slinn, who is aiming to eventually study nursing, kept up with her classes during her pregnancy. After Kiahna — she and Walker settled on the name solely to have "something unique ... there are a lot of Ashleys running around" — came into the world, she was champing at the bit to resume training. It started slowly, with walks around Lake Wascana. By October, she was back at it full bore. As a stroke of good fortune, Wrestling Canada's medical director, Dr. Mike Nicholls, is based at the U of Regina, meaning Slinn did not take overextend herself physically while trying to get back.

"The birth process is easier than recovering," says Slinn. "It took a whole month to recover. A lot was taken out of me. For the first month, I was relaxing and caring for my daughter. I was focusing more on her. At first I would just walk around Lake Wascana. Once I was able to run and work out a little bit harder, I was able to start getting back on the mat. It was hard. It only took a month and a half, but of course I wanted it to happen overnight."

Easier to keep pounds off

The Regina native gained about 25 kilograms during her pregnancy. At her first meet in late November, less than three months after having Kiahna, Slinn wrestled at 55 kg, two weight classes above normal. By the new year, she was back in fighting trim.

"I find it's lot easier to make 48 now than it was before I was pregnant which sounds kind of odd, but it's true. I think it's just because I'm always on the go, up early doing laundry, cleaning, have class, work out, be a mom, then back at practice."

A serious university wrestler — and both of Canada's Olympic medalists, Tonya Verbeek and Carol Huynh, wrestled in CIS — spends up to 20 hours a week in the gym and on the mat. Slinn balances her training with classes and parenting. She points out that Walker and both sets of grandparents, including her father Harlin and mother Rita, are available endlessly to babysit. She also has her daughter on formula, so anyone can do the feeding.

"They just want to help because they know what I want to do with my life," says Slinn, who notes her daughter is normally, but not always, a sound sleeper. "I'm lucky that I have that. A lot of new parents don't have any support."

More grounded

As a national team coach, McGee has worked with a number of highly motivated wrestlers. He notes that Slinn's drive is a breed apart, recalling a 33C (89F) day seven years ago when it was "brutally hot and I'm running around the lake and I meet this 15-year-old who was getting prepared for the Canada Games. She wanted to go the extra step." Now that she's got the life experience of being a young parent, she might have an extra reserve of resiliency.

"Maybe this will make her a better athlete," McGee says. "And the reason that I say that is she doesn't have to worry about the sun coming up tomorrow. She doesn't have to worry about whether her little daughter is going to love her or not if she loses a match. And sometimes that's a very, very powerful thing."

Slinn seconds that emotion, noting that nothing is as challenging as being a parent. Having a child did mean ruling out a shot at London in 2012. However, wrestlers typically don't reach their peak until their mid to late 20s. Verbeek, who won silver in Athens, and Huynh, who won the gold in Beijing, were each 27 when they won their medals. So Rio was perhaps the more realistic goal all along. Imagine having a Canadian competitor whose first priority upon returning from the Games will be getting her daughter off to kindergarten.

"2016 is my goal," Slinn says. "Leo's like, 'we're going to go after it, it's going to be a long four years.' I think it's possible."

That will also mean a lot of nights away from her daughter. Unlike their team sport counterparts who have 50 per cent of their games at home, wrestlers are on the road a bit. Slinn says she can compartmentalize her competitive side and her maternal instinct, but only up to a point.

"It doesn't really hit me until after I'm done my tournament," she says. "Then I get really emotional. I want to cuddle her and be with her. It is hard. I do get emotional and sad. Me and my boyfriend Skype and I can see her over the computer. I just want to grab her and hold her. When I get home I'm so happy to be with her.

"I'm lucky to have her in life," Slinn adds. "I don't regret keeping her."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet — and follow the Eh Game — @YahooEhGame (photo: sportsshooter.ca).