(More-on-sports) U.S. Paralympics Swimming today announced the 33 swimmers – 21 women and 12 men – who have been nominated to the 2024 Paralympic Team following three days of U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Swimming competition.
The team will bring a wealth of experience on the world stage to the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The 33 athletes named to the team have combined for a career 69 Paralympic. Twenty-three athletes have competed on the Paralympic stage before, while 10 are set to make their Paralympic debuts.
“We are exceptionally proud of these athletes, who represent the best that Team USA has to offer,” Erin Popovich, director, U.S. Paralympics Swimming, said. “They have taken full advantage of the shortened, three-year Paralympic quad since Tokyo, and we are so excited to support them as they compete against the best in the world this summer.”
Headlining the veteran squad is 29-time Paralympic medalist Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland), who makes her team-leading sixth Paralympic Team. One of the all-time Para swimming greats, Long has amassed 54 world championship medals – 37 of which are gold – throughout her storied career. She will now look to write the next chapter in Paris.
Four U.S. swimmers will compete at the Paralympic level for the fourth time in their careers. Paralympic champions Mallory Weggemann (Eagan, Minnesota), Evan Austin (Terre Haute, Indiana) and McKenzie Coan (Clarkesville, Georgia), as well as three-time Paralympic medalist Colleen Young (St. Louis, Missouri) all qualified for Paris after competing together in London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, and Tokyo 2020.
All four have experienced success on the Paralympic stage as well. Coan is a six-time Paralympic medalist and four-time champion, Weggemann a five-time medalist and three-time champion, and Austin a two-time medalist and one-time champion. Young, meanwhile, has two silvers and a bronze to her name.
After tying her own world record in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S6 at trials, Elizabeth Marks (Colorado Springs, Colorado) earns a spot on her third Paralympic Team. Marks, who is a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army and a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), has won five Paralympic medals in her career and is the defending 100-meter backstroke S6 Paralympic champion.
She will be joined by teammate and fellow backstroke specialist Hannah Aspden (Raleigh, North Carolina), who is also making her third Paralympic appearance. Aspden most recently won double gold in Tokyo in the 100-meter backstroke S9 and as a member of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay 34 points. She also has two bronze medals from Rio.
Rounding out the athletes competing in their third Paralympic Games are three-time Paralympic medalist Lizzi Smith (Muncie, Indiana) and University of Minnesota swimmer Natalie Sims (Edina, Minnesota). Smith and Sims both compete in the S9 classification and combine for 12 world championship medals between them. Smith is the defending Paralympic silver medalist in the 100-meter butterfly.
A host of Team USA swimmers, including several medalists from Tokyo, were named to their second Paralympic roster. Teenage phenoms in Tokyo Anastasia Pagonis (Long Island, New York) and Gia Pergolini (Atlanta, Georgia) each won the first Paralympic medals of their career in world record fashion at their first Paralympic Games, and will seek title repeats in Paris. Pagonis’ victory came in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S11, while Pergolini’s was in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S13. Both athletes have taken time off during the quad, but returned to Para swimming in top form.
Two-time Paralympic champion Morgan Stickney (Cary, North Carolina) set a world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S7 at trials this weekend en route to qualifying for her second Paralympic Team. Stickney, who won the event in the S8 class in Tokyo, has since been reclassified and is continuing to dominate as a distance freestyler.
Tokyo medalists David Abrahams (Havertown, Pennsylvania), Leanne Smith (Salem, Massachusetts), Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Illinois), Julia Gaffney (Little Rock, Arkansas), Jamal Hill (Inglewood, California) and Matthew Torres (Ansonia, Connecticut) all qualified for the Paris Games. Abrahams, Leanne Smith and Lettenberger brought home silver in the 100-meter breaststroke SB13, 100-metewr freestyle S3 and the 200-meter individual medley SM7, respectively, and all three athletes put together podium performances at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships.
Also returning to Team USA from the Tokyo team are Paralympians Summer Schmit (Stillwater, Minnesota), Keegan Knott (Lake Villa, Illinois), Zachary Shattuck (Mount Airy, Maryland) and Lawrence Sapp (Waldorf, Maryland), all of whom put together impressive trials performances and are seeking to podium at a Games for the first time.
Competing in his second Games, but first for Team USA is Abbas Karimi (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), who raced in Tokyo as a member of the Refugee Paralympic Team, but has since gained U.S. citizenship and eligibility to compete as an American. Karimi, who is a 2022 world champion and served as flag bearer for the Refugee Paralympic Team, was born in Afghanistan and fled at age 16 before immigrating to the U.S. four years later.
Ten athletes are set to make their Paralympic debuts in Paris. The first-time Paralympians are led by Noah Jaffe (Carlsbad, California) and Olivia Chambers (Little Rock, Arkansas), whose breakout performances at the 2023 world championships earned them six medals apiece in their first major international meets. Jaffe was also crowned world champion in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S8. World champion Christie Raleigh Crossley (Toms River, New Jersey), who won the women’s 100-meter backstroke S9 at the same meet, qualifies for her first Paralympic Team, as does 2022 world championships silver medalist Morgan Ray (St. Augustine, Florida), who was an alternate on the Tokyo team.
Five athletes will make their Games debuts having not competed at a world championships before. Four of them – Grace Nuhfer (Greenwood, Indiana), Yaseen El-Demerdash (Overland Park, Kansas), Evan Wilkerson (Rolesville, North Carolina), Jack O’Neil (Colorado Springs, Colorado) – won medals at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, where they combined for 17 medals. Winnett, who impressed at trials in Minneapolis, led the way with seven, including a hat trick of gold in the 100-meter backstroke and butterfly S10 and the 200-meter individual medley SM10.
El-Demerdash also snagged Parapan Am gold in the 100-meter backstroke S10. O’Neil brought home three silvers and Wilkerson earned a silver and a bronze. Nuhfer, who swims at the University of Akron, took home a silver in her international debut.
Rounding out the team is Para newcomer Alexandra Truwit (Darien, Connecticut), who will compete at her first major international competition in Paris. Truwit won multiple women’s S10 events at trials to earn her first Paralympic roster spot.
Three alternates – two women and one man – were also named to the roster. On the women’s side, two-time Paralympian McClain Hermes (Dacula, Georgia) and 17-year-old Audrey Kim (Salt Lake City, Utah) will serve as alternates. The men’s alternate will be 2023 Parapan American Games medalist Adin Williams (Happy Valley, Oregon).
Swimming at the 2024 Paralympic Games is set to be contested August 29-September 7.
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2024 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team
Men
David Abrahams
Evan Austin
Yaseen El-Demerdash
Jamal Hill
Noah Jaffe
Abbas Karimi
Jack O’Neil
Morgan Ray
Lawrence Sapp
Zachary Shattuck
Matthew Torres
Evan Wilkerson
Alternate:
Adin Williams
Women
Hannah Aspden
Olivia Chambers
McKenzie Coan
Julia Gaffney
Keegan Knott
Ahalya Lettenberger
Jessica Long
Elizabeth Marks
Grace Nuhfer
Anastasia Pagonis
Gia Pergolini
Christie Raleigh Crossley
Summer Schmit
Natalie Sims
Leanne Smith
Lizzi Smith
Morgan Stickney
Alexandra Truwit
Mallory Weggemann
Taylor Winnett
Colleen Young
Alternates:
McClain Hermes
Audrey Kim
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