USAG Stuttgart to host US Paralympic swim team

U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Stuttgart staff are preparing to host some very special guests in the coming weeks.

Thirty-three athletes from the U.S. Paralympic swim team are scheduled to arrive in Stuttgart August 17 for a week's worth of training in advance of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. That competition is scheduled to start August 28 and run through September 8.

"It is a great honor to host the U.S. Paralympic swimmers who are models of perseverance," said USAG Stuttgart Commander Col. Kirk Alexander. "The garrison team is working hard to set these world-class athletes up for success during their final phases of training for the games."

While the garrison team provides support services daily for the 28,000-member military community in the Stuttgart region, some unique challenges have emerged in supporting this mission.

"Athletes at this level have a wide range of diets, so making sure they have the right food presents an interesting challenge," said Jasmin Elder, Events Coordinator for USAG Stuttgart Family & MWR. "Making sure we have the right equipment available to support transportation as the team moves throughout the area is another challenge."

Leaders at U.S. Paralympic Swimming say the 33 athletes have a "wealth of experience" as they have a combined 69 medals from prior competitions. Twenty-three swimmers have competed on this stage before, while the other 10 are making their debut.

"We are exceptionally proud of these athletes, who represent the best that Team USA has to offer," said Erin Popovich, U.S. Paralympic Swimming Director.

Five of the prior medals Team USA has belong to U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Marks, who will compete in the Paralympics for the third time. Marks, a member of the Army's World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) from Fort Carson, Colorado, specializes in the 100-meter backstroke S6. She is the most-decorated member of the WCAP program according to Army News Service.

During the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo (postponed to the pandemic), she set a world record with a time of 1 min 19.57 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke. In addition to taking gold from that performance, she also won a silver and a bronze medal at the games. She swims despite losing her left leg and having visual impairments she sustained while serving as a combat medic in Iraq.

"I found sport through injury," Marks said in an interview with Army News Service, "it was my place of peace."

Headlining the team is Jessica Long from Baltimore, who has won 29 medals in previous competitions. This will be her sixth time representing Team USA in the Paralympics.

Long was born in Russia and didn't have most of the bones in her legs and feet at birth. Her legs were amputated when she was 18 months old so she could be fitted with prosthetics. She started swimming for Team USA at age 12 during the Paralympic games held in Athens in 2004.

Four swimmers are making their fourth trip to the games. They include Mallory Weggemann of Eagen, Minnesota, Evan Austin of Terre Haute, Indiana, McKenzie Coan of Clarkesville, Georgia, and Colleen Young of St. Louis. Coan is another storied swimmer who has won four gold medals and two silver from Paralympic Games in London, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.

In addition to Marks, Hannah Aspden of Raleigh, North Carolina, Lizzi Smith of Muncie, Indiana, and Natalie Sims of Edina, Minnesota will all make their third Paralympic appearance. Aspden won two golds in Tokyo, one in the 100-meter backstroke S9 and the other as a member of the 4x100 meter freestyle relay 34 points.

Team USA will have 14 members who are competing in their second Paralympics. Anastasia Pagonis of Long Island, New York and Gia Pergolini of Atlanta each set world records at Toyko. Pagonis won the women's 400-meter freestyle S11 while Pergolini's victory was in the women's 100-meter backstroke S13.

A two-time gold-winner in Tokyo, Morgan Stickney of Cary, North Carolina set a world record in the 400-meter freestyle S7 at the U.S Paralympic Team Trials Swimming competition held in late June. Stickney began swimming competitively at age 10 and had risen to top 20 status in the 1500-meter ranks before she broke bones in her left foot that would lead to its amputation. She returned to the pool in 2018 and took part in freestyle and medley relay teams that each won gold in 2021.

As mentioned previously, 10 athletes are taking part in the Paralympics for the first time. Noah Jaffe of Carlsbad, California and Olivia Chambers of Little Rock, Arkansas each won six medals at the 2023 world championships, their first major international competition. Jaffe, who has cerebral palsy that affects his legs and one arm, was inspired to try para swimming after watching the 2016 Rio games. Chambers started swimming at age four and has dealt with vision loss since she turned 16.

Para swimming has been part of the Paralympic program since the first games in Rome in 1960. Events are open to male and female athletes with physical disabilities such as dwarfism, amputation/limb loss, blindness/visual impairment, spinal-cord injury, cerebral palsy/brain injury/stroke, cognitive impairment, and Les autres.

Upon arriving at the garrison, the team is expected to train twice daily in an area swimming pool. Garrison staff are planning an event for DoD community members to meet the athletes at least once during their week-long stay. More information will be shared on StuttgartCitizen.com as details become available. The swimming competition starts August 29, the second day of the games.

Kristen Gowdy of the U.S Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) contributed to this report.

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