Facing a 12 month international ban was hard enough.
Then came the real "kick in the guts" for champion Australian butterflier Madeline Groves ahead of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games trials.
No wonder the Olympic silver medallist was just thankful to be competing at the four-day trials after finishing fifth in the 200m butterfly final on Wednesday's opening night.
Groves, 22, thought the worst was behind her when she cleared her name with the FINA doping panel after facing a year-long suspension for missing three drug tests in 12 months.
Last October she escaped a ban when she successfully argued to the panel that her third strike should not count because WADA testers did not do enough to find her.
It was a huge relief after months of uncertainty for the Rio Olympic silver medallist.
Especially after Dolphins teammates Thomas Fraser-Holmes and Jarrod Poort had already copped year-long bans for the same offence.
Little did she know there was more pain to come - literally.
Groves was diagnosed with the painful condition of endometriosis where a lining in the uterus is found in other parts of the body, undergoing surgery last November.
Not surprisingly Groves had to fight back tears as she reflected on her 2017 from hell at the Gold Coast trials.
"I finally got over the whereabouts (three strikes) stuff and then it was a literal kick in the guts (endometriosis)," an emotional Groves said.
"I still have (similar condition) adenomyosis which I'm dealing with but it's under control.
"I've been feeling a lot better.
"Obviously 2017 was a pretty difficult year for me but it's a new year and a new season and I am happy with how I am building into it."
Groves clocked two minutes, 10.67 seconds in the 200m final on Wednesday night to finish a brave fifth behind shock winner, Gold Coast teenager Laura Taylor,who upset Olympic bronze medallist Emma McKeon.
Groves' time was almost six seconds slower than when she almost claimed Rio 200m butterfly gold, just being touched out by 0.03 of a second by Spain's Mireia Belmonte.
Yet Groves was simply happy to be back racing.
After her health dramas, Groves opted to train by herself and not with long time coach Michael Bohl as she also juggled a law degree.
"I just felt like I needed to regain a bit of control and independence and really remember why I swim and enjoy training," Groves said of her solo training regime.
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