Mallory Weggemann
Mallory Weggemann (born March 26, 1989) is an American Paralympic swimmer. Career. She became a T10-complete paraplegic after an epidural injection to treat post-shingles back pain in 2008. She broke many world records in the S7 classification, and won multiple gold medals at the IPC Swimming World Championships in 2009 and 2010. At the 2012 Paralympics, she was controversially reclassified to S8, a class for swimmers with less impairment. She won the S8 50 metre freestyle event in a new Paralympic record time. Just under four months after becoming paralyzed Mallory was back in the pool , with her eyes on gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Having achieved that goal, she decided it was time to chase her dream, to walk again. For years, this was something that was deemed impossible, but a new possibility arose and in order to achieve her goal, Mallory reached out to the public to ask for their support through a crowd funding Indiegogo campaign. On November 16, 2013, Mallory was able to "walk" again for the first time in nearly six years, with the aid of customized leg braces and forearm crutches. Weggemann trained for the 2016 Paralympic Games in  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and actively building upon her career outside of the pool through motivational speaking. Mallory was featured in "The Current," a documentary produced by Make A Hero, a non-profit organization focused on inspiring individuals with disabilities to enjoy the freedom of adaptive sports. In June 2021 the US announced the 34 Paralympic swimmers who would be going to the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. The women's team was Weggemann, Jessica Long, McKenzie Coan, Rebecca Meyers and Elizabeth Marks. Weggmann would go on to win several medals and break two records during the Tokyo Games . On April 14, 2022, Weggemann was named to the roster to represent the United States at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships. Personal life. She lives in Eagan, Minnesota.