WEGGEMANN Mallory

Classification
S7, SB6, SM7 (IPC, 23 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 18 Dec 2015)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (teamusa.org, 01 Jan 2015)

Impairment Details
In January 2008 she received a series of epidural injections in her back to treat shingles. After the third injection she lost movement from the waist down. "I competed in high school [swimming] all four years, swam varsity and was captain senior year. After high school graduation is when my journey with the sport kind of took a shift following my paralysis. Getting into the water with a different body and dealing with learning how to balance my body from a buoyancy standpoint in the water, but then also propel myself without that kick that I relied on for so long, it was different, challenging, frustrating, but at the same time it was also liberating. For me a lot of my healing took place in the water." (zincagency.com, 01 Mar 2020; NowThis Her YouTube channel, 25 Jul 2019; startribune.com, 12 Nov 2009)

General
ENFORCED BREAK
She injured her arm in March 2014 and then experienced complications with the problem during the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. After one race finished her arm was blue and had no blood circulation. It led to a break from competitive swimming until September 2017. "One thing that I've constantly held onto is, as a Paralympic athlete, we're all in this sport because we've had to adapt. I mean, every single athlete in the Paralympic movement has what I'd call the war story. We've all had things happen in our lives, whether we were born with things or whether we acquired things later on. We all had circumstance. For me, that helped give me some sanity in a really, really difficult time. I just had to understand that, as my body changed, it heightened my paralysis, too. I was used to being paralysed with two strong arms. When I didn't have two strong arms anymore, my paralysis seemed worse to me. I have had a million reasons to give up, and I have had one reason to keep going, and that purely because I love to swim." (Twin Cities Orthopedics YouTube channel, 24 Jul 2019; olympics.nbcsports.com, 19 Dec 2018)

BOOK RELEASE
In March 2021 she released 'Limitless: The Power of Hope and Resilience', a memoir co-written by Tiffany Yecke Brooks. In the book, she details how she discovered the Paralympic movement and adaptive sport following her paralysis in 2008, and how she went on to become a Para swimmer. "It is hard to become what you do not see. That idea was very real for me following my paralysis, something that at times felt all-consuming as I tried to find a path forward. My book represents the culmination of giving that fateful day in 2008 meaning. This process of writing has given me the gift of time to process this journey, to honour it for all it has carried me through, and to know that we are all more than the circumstances we carry." (Facebook profile, 05 Mar 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2019 she became chief executive officer of TFA Group, a production studio that specialises in supporting brands and content related to the Para sports. She co-founded and began working as a speaker and writer at the agency in 2011, when it was previously known as The Factor Agency. "I think representation is a huge part of how we find our path forward. It's really hard to become what you can't see. Impairment is often not talked about. It's not something we bring up. It's not something you see in the mainstream media. When you tie women and the individuals impairment conversation together, it elevates that importance." She is also a published journalist and was a commentator for NBC's coverage of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (LinkedIn profile, 11 Mar 2021; medium.com, 08 Mar 2021; NowThis Her YouTube channel, 25 Jul 2019)