By Adam Newman
Team USA enjoyed its most successful day of Paris 2024, adding four more medals – three silver and one bronze – to the U.S. Paralympics Swimming medal count. Alexandra Truwit (Darien, Connecticut) won her first Paralympic medal on Thursday, taking silver in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S10 at Paris La Defense Arena. Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas) and Colleen Young (St. Louis, Missouri) snagged two spots for Team USA on the women’s 100-meter breaststroke podium, winning silver and bronze medals respectively. Team USA added a second Paris 2024 relay medal on Thursday as the mixed 4 x 50-meter relay – 20 points squad of Morgan Ray (St. Augustine, Florida), Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts), Abbas Karimi (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), and Elizabeth Marks (Colorado Springs, Colorado) took silver in the final event of the night.
Just one year after returning to the water following her limb loss, Truwit has not only become a Paralympian but also earned a spot on the medal stand. Truwit won silver, finishing just behind two-time defending gold medalist Aurelie Rivard of Canada.
“It’s honestly surreal to think about where I was a year ago today, learning to take my first steps in a prosthetic leg and now I’m walking out at the Paralympics in front of an arena like that. It’s one of those pinch me moments where I can’t believe this is where I am,” Truwit said. “I think choosing to try to make the Paralympics and being a part of the Para community and the Para movement was the most healing decision I could make in this first year of recovery. I’m really grateful to be here alongside so many incredible athletes.”
Truwit had quite the cheering section here in Paris and she felt all of their energy as she prepared to swim in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S10 event final. On the blocks, I was just feeling really excited. To walk out and see almost 60 of my family and friends here in Paris cheering for me is absolutely incredible. It gives me chills. I was just feeling so grateful and so proud of where I am,” Truwit said.
She is determined to soak up every moment while also putting on the best performance she can for Team USA. “I walk in here feeling like I’ve already won with the fact that I’m here at the Paralympics a year after a shark attack. A big goal of mine is to hit the pause button and soak in where I am and take that moment to feel proud of myself,” she said. Truwit will close out her first Paralympic Games on Friday in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S10. Chambers enjoyed an outstanding first Paralympic Games, winning a gold medal and two silver medals in Paris. She closed out her first Games with another piece of hardware on Thursday, taking her second silver of Paris 2024 in the women’s breaststroke SB13.
“It was a bit of a surprise. Breaststroke is hit or miss for me and tonight I was on. I was feeling good, and I was really excited to see that we both got on that podium together,” Chambers said. She’s certainly made the most of her Paralympic debut, competing in six events in Paris and the experience more than lived up to her expectations. It’s better than I ever could have imagined. Coming into the Games, I really hoped to just take it all in and have a lot of fun and not put too much pressure on myself because when I get wrapped up in expectations and times that’s when things go south for me. I really just wanted to have a lot of fun with my teammates and I believe I did that,” she said.
Thursday’s event was Chambers’ last race of Paris 2024 and she will return home with a gold and two silver medals from her first Paralympic Games. Young entered her signature event with bronze medals in each of the past two Paralympic Games and she completed the three-peat on Thursday with a bronze medal finish in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13. The 100 breaststroke has always been a constant for me and to be able to continuously be on the medal stand in this event. I’ve been on the medal stand in this event since 2013 at every major championship so to be able to do that is something that puts a lot of pressure on me for sure, but I’m so grateful to be able to bring something home for Team USA,” Young said.
Young is competing in her fourth Paralympic Games in Paris and Paris certainly wasn’t her easiest one, but she loved getting to complete alongside her U.S. teammates. “It’s been a really rough season for me, and I definitely haven’t been as fast as I wanted but to be able to go out there and race and literally leave everything I have in the pool tonight and to look up and see bronze and to see that Olivia got silver. There’s no feeling like sharing a podium with a teammate. It’s such an honor, I’m so excited,” she said. Young competed in her final event in Paris on Thursday. The mixed 4 x 50-meter medley relay – 20 points closed the day in exciting fashion and all four members of the U.S. team contributed to another strong relay performance as the squad snagged a second relay silver medal of Paris 2024.
“I think we were all feeling really good about what we were able to contribute and put out there in the pool and just be happy that we were able to bring home another medal for Team USA,” Smith said.
Ray grabbed his first Paralympic medal in the second portion of the relay. “It’s awesome. I knew I just needed to take care of my part, and I would trust my teammates to do their part and we came away with a silver medal and that’s just awesome.” Ray said. Marks, who won her fourth silver of Paris 2024 as the opening U.S. athlete expressed her pride in her team members after their silver medal swim. “I’m just super proud of this group. They did great. Everybody did what they came to do, and it was also a silver medal which is also exciting but we had a lot of fun,” Marks said.
Two-time Paralympian Karimi loved every minute of his second silver medal relay win. “We’ve been fast in the morning and we got faster in the final so we got the job done and we got another medal for the United States of America,” he said. “This is the happiest moment of my life and we just got started and we’re just getting better and better and faster. I got a taste of a Paralympic medal. This is my second Paralympic medal. It’s beyond what I expected and I’m very, very thankful to everyone who’s been supporting my journey,” Karimi said.
Taylor Winnett (Hershey, Pennsylvania) was back for her second event of her first Paralympic Games on Thursday. She advanced to the event final and finished eighth with a time of 4:55.29. Winnett will compete in individual events on Friday and Saturday in Paris. Three-time Paralympian Natalie Sims (Edina, Minnesota) closed out her 2024 Paralympic Games in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM9 event final, placing sixth with a time of 2:40.02. David Abrahams (Havertown, Pennsylvania) also finished his Paris slate of events on Thursday. The two-time Paralympian swam the men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB12 on Thursday, finishing fifth with a 1:06.63 time.
Mallory Weggemann (Eagan, Minnesota) competed in the women’s 50-meter freestyle S8 for the fourth straight Paralympic Games, finishing eighth with a time of 33:48. She will return on Saturday for the women’s 50-meter butterfly S7 on the last day of competition in Paris. Karimi competed in his first individual event on Friday and he placed ninth with a time of 34.85 in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. He will be back in the pool tomorrow for the men’s 50-meter butterfly S5. Summer Schmit (Stillwater, Minnesota) closed out her second Paralympic Games on Thursday in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM9. She finished tenth with a time of 2:44.63. Seven-time Paralympic medalist McKenzie Coan (Clarkesville, Georgia) swam in her third event of Paris 2024 and finished 12th in the women’s 50-meter freestyle S8 with a 33.93 time. Coan will finish out her fourth Paralympic Games on Saturday in the women’s 50-meter butterfly S7.
Team USA Medals:
Alexandra Truwit, silver, women’s 400-meter freestyle S10. Olivia Chambers, silver, women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13.Elizabeth Marks, Morgan Ray, Leanne Smith, Abbas Karimi, silver, mixed 4 x 50-meter medley relay – 20 points.Colleen Young, bronze, womens-100 meter breaststroke SB13
Other Team USA Results:
Abbas Karimi, 9th, men’s 50-meter freestyle S5.Summer Schmit, 10th, women’s 200-meter individual medley, S9. McKenzie Coan, 12th, women’s 50-meter freestyle S8. Taylor Winnett, 8th, women’s 400-meter freestyle S10. Natalie Sims, 6th, women’s 200-meter individual medley SM9. David Abrahams, 5th, men’s 100-meter breaststroke SB13. Mallory Weggemann, 8th, women’s 50-meter freestyle S8
