The stopwatch tells one part of Aiden Stivers' story.

Since making his Para swimming debut in 2022, the U.S. Para Swimming U23 National Team member has lowered his times, broken American records and represented Team USA on the international stage. But the biggest change happened outside the pool, where he found a community that helped shape him as both an athlete and a person.

Before Para swimming, Stivers wondered where he fit. Three years later, he's a two-time American record holder, world championships team member and future collegiate swimmer—not because everything changed overnight, but because he found a place where he belonged.

"I felt more welcome," Stivers said. "I was able to compete with people with the same disabilities as me. I didn't feel like I was one step behind everybody."

That sense of belonging changed more than his outlook. It changed the way he approached the sport.

"I wasn't really focused on why I started swimming," Stivers said. "I enjoy swimming and I enjoy competing. Once I honed into that, that's where I started to see the most results."

The newfound confidence soon translated into results. Stivers set his first American record in the SB9 200-meter breaststroke in 2023 and lowered it the following year, while also competing at the 2024 U.S. Paralympics Swimming Team Trials.

After missing the Paris 2024 Paralympic Team, Stivers continued training while rediscovering the joy that first drew him to the sport.

The breakthrough came in 2025. Stivers earned a spot on his first world championships team, represented Team USA in Singapore, set American records in both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and committed to continue both his academic and swimming careers at the University of St. Thomas.

"Making the world team was a big stepping stone, realizing I was able to do this," Stivers said. "It felt like this is something I can keep doing, which pushed me to just work harder in the pool."

Making the world championships team gave Stivers another opportunity to experience the culture that had drawn him to Para swimming in the first place. At training camp and later in Singapore, the athletes he had once admired from afar became teammates.

"At the camp for world championships, I was really nervous to talk to my teammates because obviously they're Paralympians," Stivers said. "But once we got to Singapore, they were so nice. I was able to hang out with them and see that they're actual normal people that I'm able to become friends with."

Among those teammates were Paralympians Grace Nuhfer and Keegan Knott, who, not long ago, were rising stars themselves. What began as admiration quickly turned into friendship, giving Stivers another reminder that Para swimming is defined as much by its community as its competition.

"You're not necessarily competing against them, you're competing with them," Stivers said. " Even if I don't have the race I wanted, I still get to celebrate my teammates because we're all on the same team. When one of us wins, it almost feels like we all do."

Competing alongside some of the sport's biggest names only reinforced that he belonged on the same stage. The experience also gave Stivers a better understanding of himself as an athlete.

"At camp before worlds, we spent a lot of time learning how my disability affects my swimming and what I can do to improve. Sometimes I forget that I'm disabled, especially in able-bodied swimming. Para swimming reminds me that I don't have to put all that pressure on myself."

The timing couldn't be better. Following a breakthrough 2025 season, Stivers will reunite with a coach he first watched on the Team USA staff before beginning his collegiate career at the University of St. Thomas. Along with continued experience on the U.S. Para Swimming U23 National Team, the next two years offer an ideal runway toward the LA28 Paralympic Games—the first Paralympic Games held in the United States since Atlanta 1996.

Those who have shared the pool deck with him believe his impact already extends beyond his results.

"Aiden brings a lot of energy to the pool deck," Paralympian and silver medalist Grace Nuhfer said. "In a space with so many veterans, it's grounding and exciting to see someone come onto the scene with a fresh set of goals and the drive to get there. He reminds us of the younger versions of ourselves and, especially at worlds, he was an amazing cheerleader and teammate who kept the momentum strong throughout the meet. I'm so excited to see where he goes in the future. He has a lot to look forward to."

It's the legacy Stivers hopes to leave.

"I want to be remembered not necessarily for my swimming, but for who I am as a person and how that helped me achieve different things," Stivers said. "I want to leave behind a legacy of kindness."

If the teammates around him are any indication, he's already doing just that.