Mallory Swanson's recovery from a devastating knee injury starts with focus on 'being whole off the field'

• Mallory Swanson suffered a patellar tendon tear during an April US Women's National Team friendly.
• The team's leading scorer will almost certainly miss this summer's World Cup.

Mallory Swanson (neé Pugh) is all but certainly missing this summer's World Cup.

The superstar US Women's National Team forward — who led the Stars and Stripes in scoring to start 2023 — suffered a brutal-looking patellar tendon tear during an April 8 friendly against Ireland. With a six- to 12-month recovery ahead of her, Swanson likely won't see the field for the remainder of the season.

Swanson wrote on Instagram that "this is hard" and she's "in shock" before announcing that she had undergone a successful surgery to repair the damage to her left knee. And while she's undoubtedly devastated to be missing the tournament, Swanson has managed to espouse a "very good mindset and very good mentality" through the setback, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski told reporters a few days after her injury.

"Mal is doing good; honestly, she's doing better than I thought," Andonovski added. "She's stronger than me, let's put it that way."

Mounting a comeback of a different variety — one that involved "a whole shift" in her perspective — has uniquely equipped Swanson to navigate this recovery.

Considered a soccer prodigy as she came up through the youth national team system, Swanson embarked on her senior women's national team career at just 17 years old. While she initially intended to play collegiate soccer at UCLA, she eventually opted out of NCAA play in order to go to the pros while still in her teens.

But the Colorado native's journey was far from straightforward. After joining the USWNT at the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Cup, Swanson began to fall out of favor with the team's coaching staff and missed several call-ups to USWNT camps.

She spent several months on the outside looking in, which gave her plenty of time to reflect on the flaws in her approach and how to get back into top physical and mental form.

"I've realized that me being whole off the field is gonna get the best version of me on the field," Swanson told Insider. "So once I like realized that, I was like, 'Oh, it really is that simple, you know?' And obviously there's a bunch of stuff that goes into it, but I think just having that simplicity of me being whole off the field is going to directly translate to me on the field.

"If there's a piece of me missing off the field, you're not gonna get the best version of me," she added.

She adjusted her mindset accordingly, and once she returned to the national team on a consistent basis, Swanson almost immediately became one of the team's leading contributors. Through the first six games of 2023, Swanson scored seven goals for the Stars and Stripes; no other player had scored more than two.

Though she hoped she'd never have to deal with recovery from a major injury like this — especially not this close to a huge international tournament — Swanson will surely rely on the balance she's achieved outside of soccer to get through her extended absence.

"My family will always come first, and then my friends, and then God," Swanson said. "If those three things I'm good with, then you're gonna get the best of me on the field.

"And with that, hopefully I can inspire young girls and athletes to achieve whatever they want and go after whatever they want," she added.

Through her partnership with Cracker Jack and its "Cracker Jill" program, which aims to celebrate and empower women in sports, Swanson hoped to serve as "an inspiration" to aspiring athletes through her play on the field. But now that she's sidelined, she'll look to lead by example by persevering through her rehab.

Plus, the partnership offers Swanson an opportunity to draw inspiration of her own to help fuel her recovery. Swanson is set to "join the brand in selecting nine Cracker Jill athletes who demonstrate tenacity and leadership to receive the 'I Am Cracker Jill Award,'" which rewards young women who are changing sports with a $5,000 prize.

"To be able to see and recognize and support the exceptional accomplishments that all these young girls in sports have had, I think that that's the cool part," Swanson told Insider.

"Seeing that can help inspire me as well."