Edinburgh Commonwealth swimmer Archie Goodburn opens up on incurable brain tumour

Edinburgh Live

26-06-2025

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An Edinburgh Commonwealth Games swimmer has opened up on a devastating diagnosis in a new BBC interview.
Archie Goodburn, won bronze in the men's 50m breaststroke at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships and has represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.
In 2022, the then 22-year-old announced the heartbreaking news that he was diagnosed with three brain tumours.
The athlete, from Edinburgh, has now shared heart-wrenching details about his journey with the incurable disease in a BBC interview.
He said: "I get much strength for my family and my girlfriend, and ultimately, just dreaming of my future. I see the future in different ways on different days. There are days where I wake up from bed feeling positive and knowing that things are coming and hoping that things are going to be out there.
"And other days, my eyes open and I realize I have a brain tumor, I have brain cancer, and there is an end point to my life, and it's much, much earlier than it should be."
Despite his condition, Archie is still in the pool swimming and otherwise in good health. The now 24-year-old spoke on his goals for the future in light of his diagnosis.
He added: "It's day to day. It's putting one foot in front of the other. One of the most important things for me is trying to stay present, trying to wake up in the morning and think about how much my day is going to be affected today. And if I can say the answer to that is not too much, then that's a huge positive for me to take away. I want to keep going for as long as I can. I want to be in Glasgow the next Commonwealth Games."
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Archie is fortunate in that he does not suffer from permanent side effects and his tumour symptoms can be managed with anti-epileptic drugs. The athlete said he can "live a pretty normal life at the moment".
He continued: "But that's not to say that that's something that's going to last, and it won't be something that lasts.
"I'm fortunately in a position where I haven't been diagnosed with a glioblastoma. I don't have 12 to 16 months, I may have considerably longer than that.
"Often people don't get anywhere near as long as I get when they're diagnosed with brain cancer. And they're not really in a position where they're going to want to spend their time raising awareness. They're going to want to spend their time living each day as it comes, making the most of every hour they have.
"I realized now that I'm in a position now with my sport with my diagnosis that I have time to raise awareness and shout about this horrible disease that does take so many lives."