With Life and Swimming in Balance, Gia Pergolini Decided She’s Not Quite Ready to Stop Racing

Gia Pergolini made her Paralympic debut in 2021 in Tokyo, where she had an unforgettable experience highlighted by a gold medal in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S13. 

After dedicating so much of her life to swimming, she expected the Paris Paralympics in 2024 to cap her career in the sport. She looked forward to experiencing the Games without the strict COVID-19 protocols that defined Tokyo, and figured once Paris was over, she’d be ready to move on. 

Then she went to Paris, and everything changed. 

“I was planning on retiring, but the whole experience made me realize how much I love swimming and competing and being with my teammates,” she said. “I was definitely expecting Paris to be it, and then nope! Oh my gosh, I really want to do this again. OK, LA 2028, here I come!” 

Pergolini’s original timeline for retiring after Paris would have been completely understandable. She started swimming at age 4 and competing at age 5, well before Stargardt’s disease began to take her vision as a teenager. By 2017, she was setting American Para records. In Paris, she successfully defended her Paralympic title in the 100-meter backstroke and added a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle S13. She’s also graduating from college in 2026, so the timing seemed right to call it a career and move on. 

But that experience in Paris, with spectators, mingling, exploring, her teammates and roommates and especially her family gave her the full Paralympic experience. 

“The biggest moment I remember was leaving the aquatic center and meeting up with my brothers and having them take me to my family,” Pergolini said. “That was probably the best feeling of the whole experience in Paris.” 

That’s not to say that Pergolini hasn’t made some changes since returning from Paris.  

She decided to finish out her college career online instead of in person at Florida International University in Miami, and she moved back home to Atlanta. She’s a self-described social butterfly and has been having fun exploring the city with friends and enjoying life as a 21-year-old college student. 

And, of course, she’s still training, albeit with a new coach and at a pace that suits her much better than what she went at in previous years — when she was a member of the FIU swim team and preparing for the Games.  

“I’ve been working with him since last December, and it’s been a very casual sort of training compared to what I was doing prior to Paris, but it’s been the best option for me,” Pergolini said. “I’m not doing as heavy training compared to what I had in the past. It’s always scary finding a new coach and training with them and seeing how that affects your swimming but knowing that our methods are working the best for me is really encouraging.” 

By that, Pergolini means chiefly her performance at the world championships this past fall, where she won gold not only in her signature event, the 100-meter backstroke, but also in the 50-meter freestyle. In addition, she just barely missed the podium in the 100 free with a fourth-place finish.  

She was particularly proud of the 50-meter freestyle. 

“I’d never gotten first in that race, I’d never won gold, and I was always stuck at the mid- to late-27 (second) range, so I’d go 27.5 or higher,” she said. “And I was getting really frustrated about that, because I wanted the American record. That night I went 27.28, got the gold and broke the American record, which hadn’t been broken in a decade. It was also my last race, so the (world championships) really ended on a high note.” 

Pergolini said that her relationship this past year with swimming was the healthiest she’s ever known, and she’s looking forward to continuing that balance between all the facets of her life in 2026. She’ll be graduating in the spring with a degree in communications and hopes to race at the Para Swimming World Series opener in late February in Australia as well as the Para Pan Pacific Championships, which the United States will host in August. 

“I just want to have options and obviously still do well, but no stress and no pressure this year,” she said. “When 2027 hits it’s going to be a blur for the next two years. I’m just looking forward to (2026), and I think swimming and I are going to have a great relationship, a great balance.” 

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.