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Roundup: Worth A Shot — Christie Raleigh-Crossley Wins A Silver Medal At Track & Field Nationals

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by Karen Price

Every other week we scour the web for the latest going on in the world of U.S. Para swimming. Here’s what you missed!


Double Threat

Christie Raleigh-Crossley burst into the Para swimming scene last this past quad and went on to win five medals at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.


Ahead of a return trip to the international stage at the World Para Swimming Championships next month in Singapore, Raleigh-Crossley (they/her) took a detour at the USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.


This year marked the first time that athletes both with and without disabilities competed at the same track-and-field national championships.


Raleigh-Crossley, who competed in track and field growing up as an able-bodied athlete, was also making her Para national championships debut. Competing in the shot put F34/57 event, they finished second with a throw of 5.96 meters (19 feet, 6 ¾ inches).


See the full 2025 USATF Para national championship results here.


“There’s so much more to the Paralympic Movement than just amputees and the people who are always in a wheelchair,” Raleigh-Crossley said during an interview with FloTrack. “It’s such a broad spectrum, and I’m so excited for this opportunity for the track community to better understand what the Paralympics is.”


Check out the whole interview here.


Double Threat Part II

Raleigh-Crossley isn’t the only one branching out from competing in the water. Ali Truwit, a two-time silver medalist in swimming at last year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, recently started training for the New York City Marathon and posted about what it’s been like learning to run on her blade this summer.


She’s had to relearn everything — how to stand, walk, balance and now run — since losing her leg in a 2023 shark attack, and now she’s learning how to adapt to hills and the ever-changing terrain of running outdoors. 


“Hills are really hard on my prosthetic because I don’t have an ankle to adjust to the incline or decline, but I know there’s a lot of hills in the New York City Marathon,” she says in the video.


You’ll find her post below:

Truwit also shared the big news that she’s now a Nike athlete!

Wong Making Moves

Braxton Wong’s “one and only dream as a swimmer is to become a Paralympian,” and in pursuit of that goal he made a big announcement recently on social media. Wong shared that he’s decided to leave California Baptist University, where he would have been entering his sophomore year, to move home to Clovis, California and continue his academic and athletic career.


Noting that the decision didn’t come from anything negative, Wong wrote of his gratitude for the opportunity and continued, “This summer has been a roller coaster with swimming and for different medical reasons but through all of that I can now say that I finally feel my spark for the sport coming back even during a break and much needed clarity. I am very excited for what’s to come in the second quarter of this quad and I wish the best of luck to all my swimming friends, for this next season and for the team headed to Singapore!!”


Read his whole post here:

Rocky Mountain Memories

With the world championships rapidly approaching, a handful of Team USA athletes have been living and training temporarily at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.


Grace Nuhfer shared some pics alongside Olivia Chambers and Gia Pergolini that prove it’s not ALL pool and weight room, however, with the alt caption, “three blind girls navigating the mountains and missing @coroyo (Colleen Young).”

Mama On A Mission

Mallory Weggemann isn’t just swimming for herself when she hits the water. The four-time Paralympian is also doing it for her daughter and for mamas everywhere who are balancing motherhood with being elite athletes, and to show her baby girl that there’s no one way to chase her dreams. 


Weggemann wrote recently in a post about what she’s learned so far in this journey: “Every day I strive to make her proud. To lead by example of what it means to be proud of who you are, to remind her that she is capable of whatever she is courageous enough to dream possible.”


Read her full post here:

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.