Join Me on My Road to Rio

Preparing to win gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is going to take all that I’ve got, each and every day. I’m currently training six days a week, anywhere from 2-4 hours per day. I am fully committed and dedicated to outworking my competition in order to stand atop the podium in Rio with a gold medal around my neck and the Star Spangled Banner blaring from the speakers.

However, the road to gold is not a journey I can take alone. I need your support. Costs for training facilities, pool time, equipment, nutrition, housing and competition travel can add up to more than $40,000 per year. It is always a true honor to be able to represent my country, and I am so thankful that you want to help.

Donate today and help me chase my dreams of gold in 2016.

2015 US Paralympic National Team Named

US Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, announced on Wednesday (14 January) that 14 athletes, including six reigning world champions, have been named to the 2015 US Paralympics Swimming National A Team. Twelve athletes were named to the B team, with an additional 15 athletes named to the emerging and military teams.

“With Rio right around the corner, we are thrilled to have such a gifted group of athletes,” said Queenie Nichols, High Performance Director for US Paralympics swimming. “Our 2015 roster is made up of not only decorated and consistent veterans but also new faces who continue to impress. I’m eager to see what 2015 holds for this group of outstanding athletes.”

The 2015 national A team has proven performance with several veteran swimmers on the roster. Six athletes won world titles in 2013: Cortney Jordan, Jessica Long, Rebecca Meyers, Roy Perkins, Tucker Dupree and Ian Silverman.

London 2012 Paralympic Games gold medallist and US Navy veteran Brad Snyder also returns to the roster this year. Snyder took a brief hiatus from competitive swimming following the Games and made his return to competitive swimming at the 2014 US Paralympics Swimming Spring National Championships/Spring CanAms.

Long is the most decorated female athlete with 17 Paralympic medals, while Perkins takes the honour on the men’s side with six trips to the Paralympic medal stand.

Letticia Martinez, Colleen Young and Curtis Lovejoy also made the A team for the second straight year. Michelle Konkoly, who was initially named to the 2014 B team but jumped to the national A team for 2014 Pan-Pacific Para-Swimming Championships, also returns to the roster.

Tharon Drake and Cody Bureau moved up from last year’s B team, as well as Kayla Wheeler who made the jump from the 2014 emerging team.

Team USA had a dominant showing at 2014 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships in Pasadena, California, where it finished atop the medal standings with 115 medals (34 gold, 49 silver and 32 bronze). Silverman broke a 13-year-old world record in the 400-meter freestyle S10 race, swimming a 4:03.57, and Konkoly had a shining Team USA debut with three gold medals.

Team USA begins the 2015 season at the Can-Am Para-swimming Championships from 20-22 March in Toronto, Canada, where the 2015 Parapan American Games will also be staged from 7-15 August. The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships also take place in Glasgow, Great Britain, from 13-19 July.

Additional athletes may be added to the team rosters throughout the season.

2015 National A team 

Women

Cortney Jordan, S7/SB7/SM7

Michelle Konkoly, S9/SB8/SM9

Jessica Long, S8/SB7/SM8

Letticia Martinez, S11/SB11/SM11

Rebecca Meyers, S13/SB13/SM13

Colleen Young, S13/SB13/SM13

Kayla Wheeler, S2/SB1/SM2

 

Men

Cody Bureau, S9/SB9/SM9

Tharon Drake, S11/SB11/SM11

Tucker Dupree, S12/SB12/SM12

Curtis Lovejoy, S2/SB1/SM2

Roy Perkins, S5/SB4/SM5

Ian Silverman, S10/SB9/SM10

Brad Snyder, S11/SB11/SM11

2015 National B team

Women 

Hannah Aspden, S9/SB8/SM9

Brickelle Bro, S8/SB7/SM8

McKenzie Coan, S8/SB7/SM8

Anna Eames, S10/SB9/SM10

Noga Nir-Kistler, S6/SB5/SM6

Martha Ruether, S13/SB13/SM13

Elizabeth Smith, S9/SB9/SM9

Leanne Smith, S7/SB6/SM7

Men

Evan Austin, S8/SB7/SM8

Ryan Duemler, S8/SB7/SM8

Robert Griswold, S9/SB8/SM9

Dalton Herendeen, S10/SB8/SM10

2015 Emerging team

Women 

Reilly Boyt, S6/SB6/SM6

Leslie Cichocki, S14/SB14/SM14

Lindsay Grogan, S9/SB9/SM9

Sophia Herzog, S6/SB6/SM6

Serafina King, S10/NE/NE

Ahalya Lettenberger, S8/SB7/SM8

Natalie Sims, S9/SB9/SM9

Breanna Sprenger, S1/SB1/SM1

Samantha Tubbs, S9/SB9/SM

Men 

Blake Adams, S13/SB13/SM13

Rafael Castillo, S6/SB6/SM6

Lucas McCrory, S7/SB7/SM7

Tom Miazga, S8/SB7/SM8

Tyler Sharp, S9/SB9/SM9

2015 Military team

Women 

Elizabeth Wasil, S10/SB9/SM10

Closing out 2014

What a great year to be able to look back on and just sigh with satisfaction? From breaking a World Record in April, to being a couple more classes closer to finishing school. I am ready to turn the page to the year of 2015. There is so many great meets and that the year holds and tonight at midnight it will all begin. I would like to thank everyone that has ben able to help me through another year of my swimming journey. Only 21 more months till the 2016 Games and I can’t wait to hear the national anthem played for me. Thanks for everyone’s support and on to the nest year. Go Team USA!

Turnstone Center.

I had the great opportunity of going to Fort Wayne Indiana. It was one of the shortest flights I have ever taken in my life. With the tail wind it was a total of 28 minutes. Landing into the snow and arctic tundra of Indiana, I was greeted by the CEO, Nancy Louraine. Nancy is the CEO of a facility by the name of Turnstone Center. This state of the art facility has raised 15 Million dollars for a field house expansion, to accommodate disabled athletes in multiple sporting events. Turnstone’s mission is deep down in the community where 70 percent of it’s donations come fro it’s local community.  With Nancy’s help  and Turnstone’s faculty, they have been able to assist the community with countless services for disabled people from all around. I was so lucky to be brought in on such a great evening of appreciation in thanking all of the generous people that have donated at multiple capacities,for their support in making Turnstones mission come true. I can’t wait to come back in the summer for the gran opening of their new facility and see just how great their community has made this facility and dream come alive.

3rd Annual DeVry University Golf Event

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was such a great evening at the 3rd Annual DeVry Gold Outing. I was flown out to Chicago to be a part of this great event. I rode around the golf course during the tournament and met with all of the executives associated with DeVry University. Meeting with the people that really make my education experience finically and logistically happen was am appreciative feeling. I then was the keynote speaker as one of the DeVry University student athletes.  I got to talk about my journey and how the partnership with the United States Olympic Committee and DeVry University all have made me able to swim and still finish school and swim to my goals. The flexibility of the online classes help me have the ability to take a class anywhere anytime in the world. It was a great night, event, and I can’t wait for more opportunities with DeVry University as a student athlete.

2014 Para-Pan Pacific Championships

What a hot week in Pasadena California. We got in to California on August 2nd. The first couple of days we were able to swim and get use to the pool just with a couple of training days. We started to compete on Wednesday. Since there were;’t a lot of S12 swimmers i had to opportunity to swim up to the next class. I was competing against the S13 class and they have more vision then I do. This was an opportunity that I would be able to race in a class that I could race and not just race against myself and the clock.  With swimming up a class i was able to grab 3 silver medals. I was swimming right at my best times and with the heat and sunshine all day I will take that and I am completely satisfied. I also got an amazing chance to swim on two blind relays. It isn’t very often that the USA team gets to put together a really with blind swimmers.We were the only country that had a full blind relay. This meant that we wouldn’t win a medal, but we were after two records. In both relays we were able to break the American and Pan-American Record in  both relays. This in its self is such a huge accomplishments, because who knows when the United States will be able to put together a relay that can swim this fast as the one we put together. After I finished swimming I was able to have a day to myself to hangout with some friends I have in LA and then back to the motor city I went.

A Trip Down South

It was so amazing to be able to get back to North Carolina this past week. I brought great weather with me from Michigan. This was the last push of training before we get to rest for the Pan-Pacific Championships in 3 weeks. With that being said I still had to train every day. I got to really experience so many amazing events while I was home. I got to go to a restaurant in Garner and see the great painting of all of the local celebrities from Garner. It is such an honor to be a part of such a great piece of artwork. After enjoying a great meal, the owner of the restaurant asked if I would sign my portrait. I got to be introduced to the whole restaurant and signed the wall. This was such an honor and I enjoyed every second of it. The following day I got to meet a very special person. I was able to meet a young man named Connor. Last year Connor wrote a story about me, and my swimming career for his 4th grade writing class. His mother told me I was the “hit of the class.” Connor’s mom and my mom are friends and set a lunch where I could meet this stunning young friend. He had just come from soccer practice and it was such a great afternoon to share stories and hear what a 5th graders summer was consisted of. I wish him the best of luck in his soccer career and I can’t wait to hear updates on how great he is doing. It was great to see friends and family and just get a quick dose of the amazing southern hospitality before I head out to California for this summer’s big swimming event. I can’t wait to go back to see everyone for the holidays this upcoming fall. It is back to the pool to start resting and sharpening everything up for fast racing in three weeks.

Cincinnati Swi’m Possible 2014

Last weekend I got to ride down from Detroit to Cincinnati for the annual trip for my national team requirements. It was a short and quick trip. I always enjoy this meet to see that new up and coming swimmers. The meet always falls right in the middle of my heavy training cycle. It isn’t a meet that I have to swim fast for, but it is a great opportunity to race and feel broken down. The meet is always ran well and the best opportunity for younger up and comers to get to see just how great Paralympics is and hook them into participating in future events.

Concluding Post

I finally landed back into the United States yesterday evening. Trying to gorse myself to stay awake and fight the jet lag, I laid down at a late time of 8pm to fall asleep. I woke up and took a deep breathe to reflect on what just happened the past 2 weeks of my life. Both Countries did such a great job hosting Team USA with transportation, food, and all around success. I planned on these two meets as being the key focus of my spring season. This showed in all of the accomplishments I was able to collect. After the trip was over I was able to walk away with:

1 World Record

4 American Records

4 Pan-American Records

3 Time Power Point Champion

6 Lifetime Best Swims

 

These 2 meets for me stand out from the aspect that I have been trying to perfect different race strategies and stroke technique changes as well. I really am happy with the direction my training is going and how I was able to sustain 2 weeks of fast racing. Thanks to everyone who has supported me and helped me be able to get to this part of my athletic career.

Selected for 2014 Pan-Pacific Para Swimming Championships

It is a honor to announce that I was named to the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Team. It was a great trip to Miami a couple of weeks ago to be able to swim fast enough to race my way on to the team. It is a true honor to be able to put on the Team USA uniform and compete against the world. It is always a honor to be able to not only represent my country, but being able to represent the people with disabilities. Paralympics has given me a platform to be able to travel the world and show everyone what you can do when faced with adversity. I am more then happy to be able to do this and with the great support system I have behind me. I couldn’t make it happen with out everyone that has helped me get to where I am today.

 

I leave for the British and German Open in 5 days! Stay tuned to see how it goes and make sure to follow me on twitter for updates.