Paris Feels Like ‘Yesterday’ And ‘A Lifetime Ago’ As Olivia Chambers Sets Her Focus On Singapore World Championships

When Olivia Chambers made her World Para Swimming Championships debut in 2023, her plan was simply to enjoy her first big meet as a member of Team USA and have fun. 

Now, with six world championships medals and three Paralympic medals to her name, not much has changed. 

“The more fun I’m having, the faster I go,” said Chambers, who’ll compete at her second world championships later this month in Singapore. “So as I become more experienced I’m really just carrying that same mindset of being a newbie and being fresh and everything still being exciting.” 

Chambers’ first trip to the world championships was one to remember. Competing in Manchester, England, she raced in six events and medaled in all six, earning two silver and four bronze medals to lead the United States in hardware. The breakout performance came just six months after her first international Para meet, remarkable for someone who was still learning to navigate life with a visual impairment that started at the age of 16. 

Now 22, she’s a year removed from making her Paralympic debut in Paris and earning her first gold medal on the world stage. 

“Honestly, it feels like yesterday, and it also feels like a lifetime ago,” she said of competing in Paris. “It’s wild because when you’re there everything honestly moves so fast, but it also drags because it’s a 20-session, 10-day meet. That was my longest meet by far.” 

Chambers struck gold in the 400-meter freestyle S13. She dominated prelims for the top seed but knew that Italy’s Carlotta Gilli — who beat her in the event at the 2023 world championships — does what she needs to in the morning and “really throws down at night.” 

But Chambers was ready. 

“I knew I’d spent the past year after I lost to (Gilli at the 2023 world championships) working for that and thinking about that and thinking that I wanted to be No. 1 in Paris,” she said. “But in that moment, sitting in the call room, I was like, ‘Now’s my shot, but if I don’t do it I’m still the same person. I’m still at the Paralympics. It’s still my dream come true to be competing for Team USA.’ 

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t putting too much pressure on myself but also trusting in what I’d done and knowing it was possible that I could win.” 

Chambers had a big lead at the first turn, and even with the terrific closing speed Gilli’s known for the race was never in doubt. Chambers touched the wall, looked to her left and didn’t see Gilli; she looked to her right and didn’t see the reigning Paralympic champion in the event, Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko, and knew she’d done it. It was the second gold medal of the Games for the U.S. swimmers. 

“It’s something I dreamed of since I started the sport,” said Chambers, who’s originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. “For it to actually come true is insane. I knew I could do it, but it didn’t hit me until I was standing there. Honestly, I was more nervous for the medal ceremony than the actual race, just with all the cameras on me, but it didn’t really hit me until I was on the podium and the national anthem was going and I had that insanely heavy medal around my neck that I was like, ‘Wow, I just won.’” 

Once back home, the celebrations of not only her gold but also silver in the 100-meter breaststroke SB13 and 200-meter individual medley SM13 were short-lived. Between classes at the University of Northern Iowa and her last collegiate swimming season, life quickly returned to normal. 

Though her college swimming career is now finished, she’s shifted her training to the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gearing up for this year’s world championships in Singapore. 

She’ll race six events there, including her signature 400 free. 

“I obviously set goals, but I can become very obsessive over them so I make them loose goals and know what I’m aiming for, and they just kind of have fun,” Chambers said. “The biggest thing is just to get there and be excited and have fun because that’s when I swim the fastest. But I’d love to win as many medals as possible and maybe even try again to win the 400 free. I have my Paralympic medal, but I don’t have a world championship title in that, so that would be really cool. We’ll see where everything takes me.” 

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.