Two Minnesotans, Mallory Weggemann and Summer Schmit, earned a spot on the U.S. Paralympic swimming team after qualifying in Minneapolis.
Weggemann earned her fourth Olympic berth after she earned five Paralympic medals, three of which were gold. Schmit, a junior at the University of Minnesota, completed the trials at her home pool and earned a trip to her second Paralympic games.
The pair will join 21 women and 12 men on Team USA at the 2024 Paralympic Games in August.
Schmit was born with congenital disarticulation of the right wrist and is missing her right hand. She competes with an S9 classification which, according to Paralympic classification, is for athletes with a physical impairment.
The “S” stands for swimming and the greater the number, the less severe the athlete’s limitations.
Schmit swam in the 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter freestyle. The Stillwater swimmer started the competition with the 100-meter breaststroke on Thursday before jumping to the 400-meter freestyle on Friday.
Schmit said she felt “smooth” in the pool, navigating the two races and finishing first in her first two competitions. She said having the meet on her home turf was incredible and gave her the advantage of feeling comfortable in the water.
“I feel so lucky that the stars kind of aligned for me,” Schmit said. “Not many people can say that the biggest meet of life was at their home pool that they practice in every day.”
Schmit qualified in all three events, finishing first in the 100-meter breaststroke and 400-meter freestyle and second in the 200-meter individual medley in her classifications.
Weggemann, an Eagan-based swimmer, qualified for her fourth Paralympic games on Sunday.
Weggemann participated in five events: the 100-meter breaststroke, the 50-meter butterfly, the 100-meter freestyle, the 200-meter individual medley and the 50-meter freestyle.
She competes within the classification S6, which means coordination is moderately affected on one side, highly affected in the lower trunk and legs, those with short stature or the absence of limbs.
Over the three days of the trials, she posted qualifying times for all five of her events.
Weggemann became a mother 15 months ago. She quickly had to get into shape to compete.
But even with the intensified workout routine, Weggemann said she never took time off between competing in her last Paralympics in 2021 to the 2024 United States Paralympic Trials.
“It was Tokyo straight into an infertility journey, straight into pregnancy, all of which I competed through and then back as a mom,” Weggemann said. “There was that point in time where it felt hard. It felt like, frankly, the professional sports world isn’t made for moms.”
Weggemann said there are fierce women paving the pathway, demonstrating that it is possible to compete at the highest level after becoming a mom.
Weggemann will not only be training to compete in the Paralympics, but she will also be the first Paralympian to host NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.
Another name to keep an eye on for Team USA during this year’s Paralympics is Elizabeth Marks. The now three-time Paralympian will look to add to her five Paralympic medals, including gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games.
She tied her own World Record at the trials in the 100-meter backstroke in her S6 classification.
Marks said the people are what make the competition.
“Trials are a special time of the year for everyone and getting to share that with people that I’ve been training with the last couple of years has been amazing,” Marks said. “My husband is my coach, so I feel I’m indebted to all of the time he spends on my career, so we’re just trying our best to celebrate all that work.”
The swimming portion of this year’s Paralympics begins Aug. 29.
