From Youngest In Tokyo To Veteran In Santiago, Para Swimmer Keegan Knott Continues Her Rise

Paralympian Keegan Knott is a freshman at Northern Arizona University and, like many first-semester students, had a lot of big classes this fall.

Which made it a little awkward when she had to introduce herself to her professors early in the semester while asking for accommodations so she could travel to Santiago, Chile, and swim for Team USA at the Parapan American Games Santiago 2023.

“It was kind of a lot at first because none of them knew how to react,” Knott said. “They were like, ‘Oh, so this is with the (school) swimming and diving team?’ And I had to say no, I’m on the national team and this is an opportunity I’ve been given to compete.”

Fortunately, Knott found that her teachers were all eager to give her whatever time she needed. Their support, as well as that of her college coaches and teammates, helped her return home with three medals — her first at a major international competition. The 18-year-old from Lake Villa, Illinois, won gold in the 400-meter freestyle S9, silver in the 200-meter individual medley SM9 and bronze in the 100-meter backstroke S9.

Knott was born with a congenital condition and has a shorter right femur and tibia, no fibula or right hip joint and a fused right ankle. It affects how she kicks in the water and impacts other elements of her swimming, including getting into a good flip turn position and pushing off the wall. She’s been competing in swimming since she was 7, and as a Para swimmer since she was 9.

Her Parapan American Games debut came in 2019 in Lima, Peru, but because of an issue with classification she was only able to swim exhibition and could not compete for medals that year. Two years later, at 16, she became the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic swim team I Tokyo.

Going into Santiago in November, she was curious to see how her training at altitude with her college team would impact her performance.

“Swimming at altitude, all your times are different than swimming at sea level, so it was really cool to see how that translated,” she said. “And it definitely translated extremely well.”

Getting silver in the 200 IM, she said, gave her a lot of confidence going into the 400 freestyle, her best event and the one she raced in Tokyo.

Despite some nerves before prelims, she was ready to go for it in the final.

“I’m a distance swimmer, but that’s the hardest race for me because I have to time everything perfectly within it,” Knott said. “It’s more of a sprint than distance for me. But I was one second off my best, so I was really happy with that considering it’s my first semester at school and I have so much more time here. Winning gold was even more surreal than getting second in the 200 IM. I was just so happy, and that’s exactly how it should feel every single time.”

In addition to medaling, Knott had the pleasure of going from being the youngest on the team in Tokyo to one of the veterans in Santiago. She enjoyed being able to be there for all the athletes who were competing internationally for the first time, and giving out Team USA caps to her teammates in a ceremony they hold for the rookies at big meets.

The experience also has her thinking about what she wants to fine tune in the 400-meter freestyle prior to next summer’s U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in Minneapolis. She also knows just being on the swim team at school will also help her be in the best shape possible.

“(Santiago) showed that all my hard work is really paying off,” she said. “I felt like that was something I struggled with the past two years, knowing I was putting in the work, but it wasn’t paying off. To swim well, feel good and then to medal was the cherry on top.”

Knott said she’s grown so much as a swimmer since Tokyo. Then, she said, she was just excited for the experience. Now, she knows more about her swimming and how her body works at different times and is looking forward to showing that in Paris next summer.

“(Returning for a second Paralympics) would be amazing,” she said. “That’s definitely my goal right now. I know that I’m capable of getting back there and I know that I’m putting in the work to do it.”