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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday October 13, 2007 - 3 Doctor to the star athletes By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Fresh off her Canadian Ironman victory, Lisa Bentley walks into Dr. Anthony Galea's office to talk strategy. An 11-time Ironman champion, Bentley's Achilles tendon, once-damaged, is now 100 per cent. That's not why she's visiting Galea's Etobicoke clinic this time. Bentley is now battling bursitis, an inflammation that developed on her foot. "Will I be able to go to Hawaii?" she asks, referring to the Ironman Triathlon World Championships, less than two months away. "Yes," Galea says, "absolutely." "He's the magic man," says Bentley, smiling. "He's good. Really good." Magic man, quick healer ­ it's a reputation Galea, 48, is well known for. The Oakville resident has rehabilitated some of the world's best athletes at a remarkably fast pace through what he calls "non-conventional rehab." Since he started practicing nearly a decade ago, Galea has been the go-to sports doctor at several Olympic games. He's treated professional football, hockey, soccer, tennis and baseball players, gymnasts, divers, ultimate fighters, bodybuilders ­ you name it. "I've been given a lot of good opportunities," he said, modestly. Galea, founder and medical director of I.S.M. Health and Wellness Centre, may be best known for his work with Oakville's Donovan Bailey, once the world's fastest man. The 100-meter gold medalist at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic games, Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon in the off-season of 1998. "Normally, with that kind of injury, you'd put him in a cast for at least two months," Galea said. "We didn't cast him. We put him in a special splint. We designed a special running shoe, we had him in the water right away, we had him in the hyperbaric chamber." From the day the surgical stitches were removed, Bailey was in rehab. The Olympic champion was jogging just 10 weeks after the surgery, when most would have still been in a cast. Little more than a year after the surgery, Bailey shocked the world of track-and-field, turning in the second-fastest time of 2000 at 9.98 seconds. "He would have run if he had gone through conventional rehab," the doctor says, "but not a sub-10." Bailey's picture is among many covering the walls of Galea's clinic. The two-floor facility serves recreational, amateur and professional athletes, and includes everything from a pharmacy and medical rooms to weight rooms and hyperbaric chambers. Walk up to the front doors and you're standing on a threelane track painted into the asphalt. A soccer field is to the left, a football field to the right. The place is a sports haven. "I feel guilty. I have such a fun job," says Galea, smiling. "I love it. I put on a T-shirt and go to work." "The most rewarding part is working with athletes who are so motivated and at the top of their game. They're doing everything they can to get better." Dr. Anthony Galea See Client page 4 ASHLEY WESSEL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER PREPARE FOR THE ROAD AHEAD. Next course: Oct. 27, 28, Nov. 3, 4 ­ 2 weekends, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Nov. 5 ­ Mon. & Wed. ­ Evenings ­ 4 weeks, 6:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. www.youngdrivers.com 905.845.7200 MTO APPROVED BEGINNER DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE PROVIDER