Latest European World Series Swing Brought Valuable Experience to Youth and Veterans Alike

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by Karen Price

Mallory Weggemann is one of the most accomplished athletes on the U.S. Para swimming team, with six Paralympic medals in four trips to the Games and nearly two dozen world championships medals. 

 

Cara Pennington is an emerging talent who is just beginning her rise on the international stage as a member of the U.S. Under-23 national team. 

 

The two athletes may be at different places on their Paralympic journeys, but they both brought home the gold this month as members of Team USA competed at Para Swimming World Series events in France and Germany.  

 

Pennington, a high school senior who will swim at Loyola University Maryland beginning next year, was one of six U.S. athletes who competed in France at AquaVal – Centre aquatique Alice-Milliat on May 1-3, the fourth stop of nine in the World Series circuit. She won four gold medals in the youth category: 100-meter freestyle S1-14, 400-meter freestyle S6-14, 100-meter backstroke S1-2, S6-14, and 50-meter freestyle S1-13. 

 

Pennington later posted on social media, “Swimming in Paris was so fun! I’m so happy that I was able to represent Team USA at an international meet like this! I met so many people and made so many new friends, I can’t wait to see all of you again!! ❤️🫶❤️”

Among the athletes who joined Pennington in France were Mia Clark, Tessa Nagy, Under-23 teammate Lucas Cullotta and Paralympians Yaseen El-Demerdash and Ali Truwit.  

 

Truwit won silver in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S6-14 and finished fourth in both the 100-meter freestyle S1-14 and 100-meter backstroke S1-2, S6-14. She won silver in both the 400-meter freestyle S10 and 100-meter backstroke S10 in her Paralympic debut in Paris in 2024. 

 

“So fun racing in France again!!” Truwit posted on social media. “Thank you @paraswimming World Series France! And happy to pick up more cuts & be back on the U.S. National Team! ❤️” 

The following weekend, 13 U.S. athletes competed in Berlin in one of the deepest international fields of the year with close to 400 swimmers representing 60 countries. Weggemann was one, and she started the meet by winning bronze in the 50-meter butterfly S2-7. 

 

“It was awesome,” she told U.S. Paralympics Swimming after the race. “It was so fun to get up and race. We have such a great team here. My husband and daughter are here so, every time I get to race and look up in the stands and see them it’s always super exciting. So, I’m excited about what it means for the year, but more importantly I think I’m just excited for the foundation it’s laying for what our goals in the long term are.” 

 

She followed that up with the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM5-14 after finishing in a tie for first with Great Britain’s Olivia Newman-Baronius. 

 

For two-time Paralympian Leanne Smith, the meet was her first since competing at the world championships in Singapore last fall and tying Katie Kubiak as Team USA’s most decorated swimmer with three gold medals, two silvers and two bronze medals. Smith took silver in the 150-meter individual medley SM1-4 in Berlin. 

 

“It has been a really fun week getting to compete here in Berlin,” she said. “It’s my first time attending this meet, and it was fun to get back to racing. I haven’t raced since Singapore, so just getting back in the pool and getting back in the groove of what it feels like to go through your pre-race rituals. It was kind of ironing out the kinks to get ready for the season we have ahead.” 

 

Paralympian Olivia Chambers rounded out the podium finishes for the U.S., winning bronze in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM5-14.  

 

“I knew that I had a shot to get a medal, and I wanted to improve my back half from the morning,” she said. “So, I was really pumped and excited, and I knew that my teammate Mallory was there in front of me. So, going in I just wanted to be excited and really work on my back half, grabbing onto that water because this morning I really felt like I was slipping in my breast and free.” 

 

Other Paralympians who competed in Berlin were Summer Schmit, Noah Jaffe, El-Demerdash, Lizzi Smith, Morgan Ray and Grace Nuhfer. They were joined by Piper Sadowski, Kenley Teller, Adin Williams and Caitlin Trevor. 

 

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.