Australia’s Olympic champion Stephanie Rice has right shoulder surgery

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Rice has right shoulder surgery

SYDNEY — Triple Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice says she has undergone surgery on her right shoulder to repair a long-term injury which threatened her buildup to the 2012 London Olympics.

Rice told followers on the social networking site Twitter on Wednesday that the surgery in Melbourne was successful.

“Just got out of surgery. Things went well, thank you God,” Rice tweeted. “Just cleaned the bursa in my right shoulder. U guys have been so supportive!!”

Rice opted for surgery while representing Australia at last month’s Pan Pacific championships in Irvine, Calif., taking a decision which ruled her out of October’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

She said at the time her decision to skip the Delhi games was hard but necessary for her longer-term fitness.

“It’s a huge disappointment for me,” she said. “I would’ve loved to have been there, especially because it only comes around every four years. But I have to think of the big picture, which is London 2012.”

Rice said the joints in her shoulder were inflamed and needed to be cleaned out. Her rehabilitation is expected to take 12 weeks, including four weeks out of the water.

The 22-year-old swimmer swept the individual medleys and helped Australia win the 800-meter freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympics. She won a silver and a bronze at last year’s world championships in Rome.

Rice won two golds in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a competition featuring 71 countries of the British Commonwealth.