Roundup: Celebrating New Legs, A New Hand, And The Countdown To Worlds

And Showing Off The New Hand

Long isn’t the only Paralympian who’s sporting something new these days. Lizzi Smith introduced her followers to Zeus S, explaining what the “S” stands for and also noting that while she spent most of her life with fewer hands than anyone else, she now has more hands than anyone she knows.

The Countdown Is On

The World Para Swimming Championships are just weeks away, and several members of Team USA are spending time at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before heading off to Singapore.

Taylor Winnett, who’ll be making her world championships debut, is one of them. She wrote, “Excited for this final push of intense training before tapering for World Championships! 35 days until my first race!! 💘⛰️”

Adorable New Addition

Mallory Weggemann shared the sad news early this year that her pup, Sam, crossed the rainbow bridge, but now the family has welcomed a new member to the household.

Finn, Weggemann wrote, “has quickly learned the most important spot in the house is right by Charlotte’s side. She talks about Sam every day, loves Finn fiercely, and takes her role in his training very seriously — and he listens intently to her.”

Check out the cute pics of Finn and Charlotte:

Truwit’s On The Run!

Running in the New York City Marathon, that is. Ali Truwit has been taking her followers along as she trains for this fall’s marathon on her running blade, and in her latest post she shares that she finished a 16.6 mile run along with some of her best buds. Truwit raises money for women and girls to get their own prosthetics in order to stay active, healthy and happy, so be sure to check out her other posts to learn more about helping Ava, Celeste and others through her Stronger Than You Think foundation.

Lights… Camera…

Katie Kubiak’s about to make her world championships debut, and people are paying attention! Kubiak shared that she recently got to share her story with CBS 58 in Milwaukee, writing, “Only 32 days until World Championships! 🇸🇬

“As I continue to hit these next couple of weeks hard, I’m finding gratitude in the struggle; I am being given the chance to live out the dreams we never thought were possible as I navigated the darkest days battling these illnesses. God is so good!”

Check out her post (and keep checking for the air date!) here:

He’s Got The Power! 

Jamal Hill recently had the opportunity to share his thoughts with the TEDxInglewood (California) audience, and he teased his talk by talking about energy. Hill wrote, “It’s something we pass on.

“It’s something we harness. And sometimes my friends, it’s something we must create… from absolutely nothing. So, Imagine the ‘impossibly beautiful’ world we could bring into existence, if we Spoke the truths we’ve been afraid to speak. Choose to move forward where we’ve stood still. Or created something—when no one expected it ?”

See his whole post, and be sure to keep checking back for the video, below:

Moving In And Moving Up

Evan Wilkerson will make his world championships debut in September, but that’s not the only big thing happening in his life right now. Wilkerson just started college at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and he shared what his first few days were like as he got oriented:

“Moving to college as a blind person can present some interesting challenges,” he wrote. “One of these is getting yourself and your guide dog if you have one oriented to the campus. I came several days early to do this, and while looking at a map made it seem like navigation was going to be as easy as reading the future from a bowl of spaghetti, in practice it was actually much easier, and I am now much more confident about my ability to not only survive but thrive 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.