Roundup: The World Series Wrapped Up with a Bang in Lima
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by Karen Price
Every month we scour the web for the latest going on in the world of U.S. Para swimming. Here’s what you missed!
U.S. Paralympians had a strong showing at the final Para Swimming World Series meet of the season at the end of October in Lima, Peru.
Taylor Winnett (S10) won three gold medals while Summer Schmit (S9) won two and Lawrence Sapp (S14) added a pair of his own. Their seven gold medals combined with four silver and three bronze medals by U.S. athletes to push Team USA to the top of the medal leaderboard.
Winnett posted lots of photos of the team in and out of the pool and quoted American Olympic legend Jesse Owens, writing, “Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
Kenley Teller also shared some photos of her time in Lima, writing “World Para Swimming World Series in Lima!!! Had so much fun at this meet with so many incredible athletes . Grateful for all of the support from CSS and COSA!!”
Gray Rutledge chatted with USParaSwimming.org ahead of the competition, which was also her first outside the U.S.
“I’m really excited to race,” she said. “I know there’s a lot of competition, but that’ll push me even harder. My coaches and teammates have reminded me, ‘Hey, this is your first international meet, so just do your best and have fun.’”
Rutledge checked back in after the meet, writing, “grateful to medal at my first international world series meet & swim with amazing swimmers! closing out the last meet of the season proud of everything i’ve accomplished despite multiple obstacles throughout the season! ”
And check out Sapp’s vlog from Lima:
Three-time Paralympian and two-time gold medalist Elizabeth Marks posted a very special anniversary message along with her husband recently … including a photo of his hand on her baby bump
She wrote, “Happy Anniversary Our most special one yet. Thank you to everyone who has respected our privacy and for continuing to do so. This year has been about taking things slowly, protecting our peace and being grateful for every moment.”
Marks has the comments turned off but thanked everyone for what would no doubt be an influx of excitement and support.
Morgan Stickney has been through her share of medical challenges, but the two-time Paralympian and three-time gold medalist recently shared the excellent news that, for the first time in three years, recent tests show no signs of her rare vascular condition progressing.
She wrote, “Best news—I am so incredibly excited to say that my scans came back showing no progression of disease!! This means that the monthly treatments have been helping insurmountably and we can try spacing them out an extra week. My medical team is cautiously optimistic and taking things very slow as we don’t want things to start progressing again. Although I probably won’t ever be cured of this horrible disease, this is a win and in my family we celebrate every victory, big or small!”
Four-time Paralympian Mallory Weggemann and husband Jay Snyder have openly shared their infertility journey since they first tried IVF four years ago. The couple recently announced that they’ve decided to move forward with treatments to try to give baby Charlotte a little brother or sister.
Weggemann, a seven-time Paralympic medalist, wrote, “Deciding if/when/how we wanted to start another round of IVF has been something that has weighed on our hearts for quite some
time. … Infertility has many heartbreaking realities, but it also carries such a profound amount of love. And while signing up for it all again feels scary, there is so much love wrapped in it all and that is what we are leaning on… love, lots of love.”
See her full post below:
Ali Truwit competed at the Paralympics in Paris just over a year after losing part of her leg in a shark attack. This summer she started learning to run on her prosthetic blade, officially launched her training for the New York City Marathon at the beginning of August and completed the 26.2-mile race at the beginning of November.
The two-time silver medalist from Paris posted, “can’t believe we just did that!! Getting to run 26.2 miles alongside so many friends and family who have been by my side every step of my recovery is a gift I will cherish forever. Together, we fundraised $220,000 for @strongerthanyouthink to give more young women and girls prosthetic running blades so they can run too!!
See her photos and full post from race day:
Paralympian Morgan Ray opened up on his social media for Dwarfism Awareness Day on Oct. 25, answering a question about this biggest challenge he faces everyday.
Ray, a 2024 silver medalist, said it’s not physical but rather the fact that something as simple as going to the grocery store can turn into a challenge because of other peoples’ reactions to him simply being there.
“People stare at us, take pictures even, laugh, point, you name it and they probably do it,” he said. “I just try to be a light and some days it can be hard because some days I might respond to a situation better than others.”
Check out everything he has to say:
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.
