There's an old adage that, whenever a door closes in a person1s life, another opens. For Sheila Klausner, it's an adage that has certainly rung true. Denied an opportunity to compete in an Olympic Games because of a freak injury during her years at NC State, Klausner nonetheless is headed to Athens for this summer's Olympics -- though in a far different role. The former Sheila Hanley, a Wolfpack individual medley specialist who married NC State teammate Curt Klausner in 1991, will be going to the 2004 Summer Games as a physical therapist on the medical staff of the U.S. swim team.

"I feel very honored, and very excited, to be going," Klausner said in late July, during a phone interview from the U.S. Olympic Swimming training camp in Palo Alto, Calif. "Swimming is my life. It would have been nice, back in the day, to go as a participant, but it's still nice to be involved."

"It's always exciting to see members of our Wolfpack swimming and diving family go on to success in their lives after NC State," NC State swim coach Brooks Teal said. "For swimmers, the Olympics are certainly the ultimate swimming experience, so for Sheila to be chosen as a part of the U.S. Olympic staff is a great honor and a testimony to her expertise and commitment to her career. I join all Wolfpack swimmers and divers in saying that we are very proud of Sheila and her accomplishments."

This will actually be Klausner's fifth international competition as part of USA Swimming's support staff.

"I became involved [with USA Swimming] through helping out at camps they sponsored while we were in Arizona," Klausner said. "I joined their sports medicine network in 1998, and that led to my being named to the staff for the 1999 Pan-Pacific Games."

And that, in turn, led to Klausner's participation in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, as well as the 2002 and 2003 World Long- and Short-Course Championships.

Klausner, who is part of a five-member medical staff attached to the U.S. Olympic swim team (led by the head physician, Dr. Scott Rodeo), is responsible for far more than the occasional sore back or aching muscle.

"My basic responsibilities are in the realm of muscular-skeletal injuries," she explained. "There's a lot of massage, stretches and strengthening; I do massage work to help the swimmers recover from training and aid in continuing training, plus treat any injuries from training or competition. My job is to help make sure they're in 100 percent form for competition."

Ironically, it is the fact Klausner herself was never 100 percent healthy during her four years at NC State, and the attending efforts at diagnosing and rehabbing her injury, that led to her pursuit of a career as a physical therapist in the first place.

Growing up in Nashville, Tenn., with an older brother and sister who were both active swimmers themselves, Klausner was just continuing a family tradition when she began doing laps for a summer swim league -- at age 5. Two years later, she was participating in year-round competition, and even after her older siblings hung up their Speedos, Sheila was still knifing through the water, through elementary, junior high and high school. She competed for St. Bernard Academy from 1982-86, on teams that won four straight state championships, in addition to the Nashville Aquatic Club.

"I had scholarship offers from Auburn, Georgia, Clemson, Tennessee and NC State," she said. "I wanted to go away from home, so that pretty much took care of Tennessee. I had cousins in Raleigh, and when I visited I really loved the campus and connected with the coach [Don Easterling], so I decided to join the Wolfpack."

Recruited primarily to swim the 200- and 400-meter individual medley, Klausner, like all college athletes, had visions of conference and national championship meets -- and, well down the road, a possible shot at an Olympic berth of her own. But those dreams all vanished during a weight training session her freshman year.

"I was doing overhead triceps extensions with a dumbbell, and I brought it down too fast," she said. "The momentum tore my deltoid muscle."

Nowadays, such an injury would be easily diagnosed. But in 1982, before MRIs became standard diagnostic tools, Klausner's injury was initially thought to be a rotator cuff tear, and she resorted to the usual method at the time for treating that type of injury: cortisone shots and strengthening exercises.

"I'd be able to compete in dual meets, but by the time the ACC Championship arrived I couldn't even lift my arm," she said. "I was probably worsening the injury without even realizing it."

It was only after Duke University acquired MRI equipment the summer prior to her junior year that Klausner's shoulder condition was finally identified, and subsequent surgery ended her brief career as a Wolfpack swimmer.

"I went in with a full scholarship, and with high aspirations and expectations for myself," she said. "It was very disappointing."

That disappointment, however, steered Klausner onto the path of her new career. Intrigued by the problems in identifying her injury -- and already headed for a bachelor of science degree -- Klausner graduated in 1990 with a degree in zoology. She also graduated with a future husband: Curt Klausner, a New Hampshire native and breaststroker. The two were married a year after graduation, in 1991, while Curt was coaching a private club in South Florida. Sheila, opting for a graduate degree in physical therapy over pre-med, earned her masters from the University of Miami in 1993.

Stints on the staffs of medical centers in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz., led to Klausner's involvement with USA Swimming. Since 2000, the Klausners have been based in Columbia, S.C., where Curt coaches Team Carolina, the club program affiliated with the University of South Carolina. Sheila Klausner serves as staff physical therapist and sports medicine program coordinator at the Healthsouth Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, and is also an adjunct assistant professor in USC's department of physical therapy.

"Since my involvement with USA Swimming is strictly voluntary, I have to limit myself to one major trip per year," Klausner said. "I use vacation time and work things out with my bosses at Healthsouth."

Klausner's extended vacation began July 17, when the survivors of the Olympic Trials reported to Palo Alto for training camp.

"They'd all been competing against each other in the Trials; the camp is designed to foster unity and camaraderie, and bring them together as a team," she said.

The team traveled to Greece Aug. 1 to spend additional time in Mallorca, Spain, and get acclimated to the environment and 12-hour time change from California before Olympic swim competition began Aug. 14. The 2004 Summer Games end Aug. 29.

Though Klausner admits to some apprehension in making the trip to Greece, given the current situation with the war on terrorism and the potential target the Olympics offer, she feels the lavish security arrangements will be enough to keep the Games safe. And though sightseeing may be at a minimum due to her hectic schedule, there is one particular tourist attraction she hopes to take in.

"We have a rendition of The Parthenon in Nashville, so I hope to see the original," she said. "My husband's been teasing me that I'm the only person he knows that will be able to say they've been to both Parthenons."

Beyond this summer's games, Klausner expects to continue her appearances in international swim competitions.

"As much as I love swimming, as long as [USA Swimming] will have me, I'll be there," she said.

And there's even the possibility of appearing as a competitor, in Masters competition, down the road.

"I swim three days a week," Klausner said. "I don't have a lot of time for competitive swimming right now; I did some meets in Phoenix before we moved [to Columbia]. But it will come. Whatever happens, I know I'll always be involved in swimming, in some way."

For Sheila Klausner, it's a door that will always be open.