Historic U.S. Moments Highlight the Second Night of Para Swimming at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

NANTERRE, France – Team USA Para Swimming hit two new historic American milestones on Friday.

On night two of swimming events at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Gia Pergolini captured the U.S’s first gold medal of the Games, beating the field in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S13. When she touched the wall with a time of 1:04.93 – just shy of her own world record – the Georgia native became the first U.S. woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the same discipline and classification. The 20-year-old had no clue she had just etched her name in history.

“Thank God nobody told me that before the race,” Pergolini joked about not knowing. “I have such a great support team to give me more and more confidence (to continue performing at the top of my game).”

Pergolini continued, detailing how her other competitors keep her focused.

“My competitors are very strong girls,” she began. “I always have to keep a mindset that swimming is so unexpected. So, I just need to keep focusing on myself. Yes, I won gold in Tokyo. But that didn’t mean that I was going to win here. So, I just try to keep making myself get better and better each day.”

Pergolini was all smiles as she faced a cavalcade of television and press interviews. In each one, she brought her own style, just as she did when she danced her way to the pool during athlete introductions and in the athlete ready-room with her good friend and teammate, Grace Nuhfer.

“It’s so much more relaxing knowing that I have a really good friend and a teammate in the ready-room with me before my biggest race of the week,” Pergolini said. “Knowing that Grace was there next to me helped me achieve my goals tonight. So, I have to give her credit for the reason why I won gold.”

Nuhfer, who secured her first career Paralympic medal on night one in the 100m butterfly S13, finished in eighth place tonight.

Pergolini’s first 50 meters was the quickest of the field, propelling her to a massive lead heading into the final 20 meters. A new world record was in reach for a brief spell. But, she slowed slightly over her final 15 meters. She admitted that while her finish is her weak point, she tries to cover that up with a blazing start.

“I always die in the last 15 meters,” she joked. “I just pray that it will be over soon. I know I got out fast in the first 50. So, it’s just pacing myself in that first 50 and literally giving all I got over the last 50. That’s what I did out here.

“It worked out well for me, and it worked out well in Tokyo and all my other meets. So, I pretty much like that race strategy.”

A few moments later, Ellie Marks, who secured her second individual silver medal in the women’s 200m IM SM6 earlier in the day, teamed up with Leanne Smith, Zach Shattuck and Abbas Karimi to claim the first-ever Paralympic medal in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay - 20 Points for the U.S. The achievement denoted Marks’ third silver medal in Paris after just two days of swimming competition. It also capped a stellar U.S. debut for Karimi, who competed for the Refugee Paralympic team three years ago in Tokyo.

“It’s an honor for me to represent the United States of America,” Karimi said. “It means everything to me, especially for my legacy…after 12 years, I’ve finally won a Paralympic medal. It’s been a heck of a journey for me. But, at the end of the day, I won. So, here we are.”

In Para swimming relays, times are adjusted after the race to ensure fair play across all teams. The level of disability varies from athlete to athlete, and team to team. A complicated mathematical algorithm is used to adjust times across the pool to take the ranges of disabilities into effect. The U.S. knew they had a solid chance of grabbing a podium spot after touching the wall in third place. However, after a brief pause that felt like ages to the athletes, the words “United States of America” popped up on the Jumbotron in the silver-medal position.

“The suspense was unreal,” Shattuck remarked. “I think it’s every kid’s dream to get in this position and have a chance at a medal. And to have to wait for that tension to boil over, it’s hard to fathom.

“I think the heart rate might have been higher while waiting than it was during the race.”

Day three of Para swimming events will kick off tomorrow with heats at 3:30 a.m. Eastern.

Brendan Rourke is a Digital Media Assistant with the USOPC. Previously, he spent three seasons writing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.