HILL Jamal

Classification
S9, SB9, SM9 (IPC, 08 Aug 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (charcot-marie-toothnews.com, 25 Jun 2019; blackkidsswim.com, 20 Nov 2018; lastandardnewspaper.com, 21 Nov 2018)

Impairment Details
At age 10, on Thanksgiving Day in 1995, he was taken to hospital after the right side of his body went numb. When he got to hospital he was almost entirely paralysed, and could only speak and move his head. He was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease [CMT], an inherited condition that causes nerve damage. He stayed in hospital for several months in a paralysed state before he recovered, albeit with reduced motor function in his arms and legs. "CMT runs in my family. It affects my mum a little bit. It affects my uncles pretty heavily. Essentially, my motor neurons in my outer extremities give me a lot of problems. From my knees to my toes, it pretty much feels like I'm walking on prosthetics. I've never been able to do things like jump or dunk a basketball, because I don't really have the function down there. From my elbows to my fingertips, I have about 30% nerve capacity there, so it just looks like I'm clumsy." He and his family kept the condition secret until after he graduated from college in 2016. (blackkidsswim.com, 20 Nov 2018; lastandardnewspaper.com, 21 Nov 2018; menshealth.com, 14 Jul 2021)

General
DISCOVERING HIS IMPAIRMENT
Prior to age 10, he knew that he struggled with some basic movements, but it was not until Thanksgiving Day in 1995 that he was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease [CMT]. After the diagnosis, however, he and his immediate family kept the condition secret, and he did not talk about it openly until after he had graduated from college in 2016. "As a kid, [CMT] never really manifested in me. The genes were there, but they lay dormant during the first few years of my life. My parents acknowledged CMT, but they didn't allow it to be an excuse or a crutch. Not only did I not want others to know there was anything wrong with me, I didn't want to believe it myself." (teamusa.org, 22 Sep 2020; charcot-marie-toothnews.com, 25 Jun 2019; menshealth.com, 14 Jul 2021)

1994 SHOULDER DISLOCATION
He took a six-year hiatus from swimming from age nine to 15, after dislocating his shoulder while swimming. "The injury was a result of improper technique and a genetic disorder, Charcot-Marie-Tooth [CMT]. CMT damages the nerves in the arms and legs and, for me, reduces mobility in my legs. I never told anyone about it for years. So my right shoulder was messed up and doctors thought they'd have to amputate my right arm. My family assumed swimming was over for me. For months, I was in children's hospital paralysed. I had to learn to write with my left hand because my right arm was completely immobilised. Eventually, I recovered. I started playing basketball and got back into swimming in my sophomore year of high school." (blackkidsswim.com, 20 Nov 2018; simplyswim.com, 22 Jul 2019)

FINDING WILMA
He believes the key to unlocking his potential as a Para swimmer came after opening up about his impairment to coach Wilma Wong, who he found by way of an underwhelming spell at the Trojan Elite post-grad team at the University of Southern California [USC]. "I was able to get a small athletic scholarship to Hiram College, but in my junior year I performed so poorly I was legitimately embarrassed. I told my parents I had to leave the school. I started looking at the best coaches in the world and I found Dave Salo at USC. I called Dave and I said 'I'm leaving college to swim with you,' and he said absolutely do not do that, that's a terrible idea. And I called him for a few weeks until he got it in his head that I was coming and I was not asking for permission. So my senior year I returned to California and I never enrolled at USC, I just joined their post-grad swim team - the Trojan Elite - which has many Olympians on it. I thought that would be the key to my success. I spent a year there reading and working. And in May I wasn't that much faster - just one or two tenths faster, and I was insanely frustrated. I asked myself 'What am I doing wrong?' And that's when I started to realise what I needed in a coach - a personal coach. I need someone who is paying attention to me, and I found Wilma Wong through another swimmer. She was the first one that recognised that I had Charcot-Marie-Tooth [disease]. I never told anyone because I was ashamed of it." (blackkidsswim.com, 20 Nov 2018)

SWIM UP HILL FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
He is the founder and president of Swim Up Hill, a non-profit organisation that offers virtual swim lessons. He founded Swim Up Hill in 2018 in an attempt to reduce the incidence of death by drowning in the United States of America. He hopes that by the end of 2028, Swim Up Hill will be teaching one million students on an annual basis. In March 2019 Swim Up Hill partnered with Eli Swim Services, a celebrity swim instructor, to open a physical location. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, he created an online programme in partnership with Airbnb called Splash at Home. In 2021 Swim Up Hill partnered with the Boys & Girls Club, where he also trains, to offer four-day learn-to-swim camps to children in Pasadena, California. "My mission is to teach one million people how to swim, an