Wow Tracy, that’s really tough. I’d be curious to hear about what kind of training you were doing to cause all of these injuries!

Given that you have injuries to both your upper and lower body, there’s not a whole lot you can do that will directly relate to swimming. The best I can offer are low-impact, low-intensity exercises that will at the very least prevent further injury, and a few suggestions as to precautions to take when you do get back into your laps.

One exercise that is VERY popular with those who have joint injuries is water aerobics. I won’t rehash the details, but I will direct you to our article on water jogging. As long as you don’t overdo it, your knee should be ok doing this exercise. Do it in deep water with a floatation belt to preserve your ankle. At the very least, the low impact nature will help prevent any further injury to your knee and ankle.

The knee isn’t as big of an issue as it sounds like, because ideally, you shouldn’t be moving your knee a whole lot on the strokes not named breaststroke. I have a swimmer is recovering from knee surgery, and she wears knee braces and seems to do fine as long as she is careful about how she pushes off the wall.

Shoulders are very tricky for swimmers. I know it sounds drastic, but there’s a good chance that you will never fully recover from a shoulder injury so long as you are swimming. Once you get your knee and ankle back in good shape, obviously kicking is an option. I would suggest kicking with your arms at your side, as even the motion of streamlining can cause lots of pain. Vertical kicking is also an option to change things up. You can work on some rotation drills for your freestyle and backstroke (I’m sure your coach will have some good ones, but if not let me know).

Also, try some drills working on pressing your chest and hips for butterfly. At the very least this will improve abdominal strength. One that I like is called aquaman. You essentially dolphin kick up and down the pool with your arms at your side, and focus on using your whole body. Like you're doing "the worm". The whole-body nature of the drill should relieve most of the stress on your knees.

Alas, your breaststroking career might be over.

Once you’ve progressed a little further in your rehab, there are a few other things I can recommend.

1. Consider making an investment in a streamlined kickboard. They’re available cheap online at Lane4swim.com, about 12.50 + shipping for the TYR variety. These are supposed to put less strain on your shoulders.
2. Make sure you’re stretching AFTER your swims! Stretching before hand is basically useless, and will only reduce the elasticity of your muscles and harm your speed. You need to have a good 15 minute stretching session after you swim while your muscles are still warm. I know it can be tough sometimes to force yourself to do this, but it’s important.
3. Use fins to improve your ankle strength and flexibility. Once you have a sprain, you’re really susceptible to doing it again, so increasing strength will be huge for prevention.
4. Listen to your body. If you experience any soreness in a joint where you know you have injury, it’s time to take a day or two off. Beyond further injuring yourself, the real risk you run is compensating for the injury with another part of your body and running your other shoulder. Don’t let your adrenaline hide your judgment. Just because you don’t hurt in the pool, doesn’t mean that you won’t be hurting afterwards.
5. Be absolutely certain you’re doing a quality warm-up and warm-down. Many people neglect this part of their swim. Really focus on a good solid routine that gradually builds up your muscle use.

Give these things a try, and let us know how they go, and good luck in your recovery!