In the pool, she can usually find the black lane lines on pool bottoms but has a hard time knowing when she is near the wall, so she counts her strokes. She has adjusted to her home pool at UNI but struggles with lighting and varying pool depths when she travels to compete at other venues.

In August 2021 — after graduating from high school with a 4.375 weighted GPA — Chambers packed up and moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to attend UNI. She was sold on both the team and the coaches, and she credits her parents with their support.

“A lot of parents probably would have just gotten really scared to send their child 11 hours away from home for college after they’ve just gone blind,” said Chambers. “But my parents trusted me and trusted who I was around and let me do what I want to do with my life.”

On campus, she did not make a big deal out of her vision impairment.

“Once I told [my coaches and teammates] what I needed, they were wonderful,” she said. “They know when I need help, and they know what I can do. So they’re not overly helping with stuff. They coach me like any other athlete.”

Friends were equally helpful showing Chambers the campus. Once she knows the layout of a location, she can get around on her own.

In February 2022, the UNI coaching staff suggested that Chambers try Para swimming. Chambers had heard of Julia Gaffney, a Para swimmer from Arkansas who had won several medals at the Para Swimming World Championships, including a gold in the 200-meter individual medley in 2019. But Chambers resisted the idea at first.

“It took me a while to accept that I was visually impaired,” she admitted. “It wasn’t until after conference championships my freshman year that I was like, yeah, this is something I want to do.”

Her rise up the Para swimming ranks has been fast. In July 2022, she broke the American record in the 400-meter individual medley (class S13) at the USA Swimming Futures Championships in Minneapolis. Her time of 5:21.68 shattered a 10-year-old mark set by three-time Paralympic gold medalist Becca Meyers (5:23.60). Three months later, she competed in a world series event in Mexico; it was her first time Swimming internationally.

In December, Chambers really made her mark at the 2022 U.S. Paralympics Swimming Championships. She won three medals, including two golds in the 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley, and was named swimmer of the meet after accumulating the most points at the competition.

Then in April 2023 — with her UNI teammates cheering from the stands — Chambers won three medals at the Para Swimming World Series stop in Minneapolis, including gold in the 200 IM, where she tied two-time Paralympic gold medalist Elizabeth Marks for the top spot.

With that performance, Chambers qualified for her first Para Swimming World Championsihps (July 31-Aug. 6, 2023, in Manchester, Great Britain).

“I did way better than I was expecting,” she admitted.

Chambers is currently the top-ranked 400 free swimmer in the world in the S13 class. Her time of 4:33.75 is almost a quarter second ahead of five-time Paralympic medalist Carlotta Gilli from Italy.

Para swimming has boosted Chamber’s confidence in the pool. She is now beating times that she set before she lost her vision.

“We all like to go lifetime bests,” noted Lakin. “To be able to do that without being able to see is outstanding and just a testament to what Olivia does every day.”

Chambers heads to England in July (her first trip to Europe) and will have a busy schedule at the world championships. She qualified to compete in the 100 and 400 freestyle, plus the 200 IM, and has met the time standards to also compete in the 100 butterfly, 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

“I really want to medal in as many events as I can,” Chambers said. “I think that’s a possibility for me. Winning would be amazing.”

Just A Year After Competing in Her First Para Swim Meet, Olivia Chambers Is A Medal Contender at Para Swimming World Championships

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