Maria Arozamena

On Thursday, Ali Truwit ’23 clinched the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S10 event at the Paris Paralympics after recovering from a shark attack in May 2023. 

A year ago, Truwit was completing hours of physical therapy, recovering from surgery and acclimating to life with a prosthetic after losing her foot in a shark attack just days following her Yale graduation. This year in Paris, she became a silver medalist with a time of 4:31.39, almost three seconds faster than her qualifying time. 

“It’s honestly a surreal moment right now and I feel really, really grateful to contribute to Team USA’s medal count because what I’ve achieved is on the shoulders of truly so much support from everyone around the country,” Truwit said after the race.

In her first showing in the Olympic pool on Sept. 1, she came sixth in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 1:02.80.

Just a few days later, in her first heat of the 400-meter freestyle, Truwit placed first with a time of 4:34.71, surpassing Canada’s Aurelie Rivard, the world record-holder in the event.  

In the 400-meter freestyle final, Truwit started strong, leading for the first 250 meters. At the 300-meter mark, Rivard overtook Truwit. 

Still, Truwit shaved three seconds off her qualifying time and finished second, setting a new American record in the event.

Having swam varsity for Yale all four years of college, Truwit was determined to not let her accident be the end of her swimming story. 

“My experience as a member of Yale Swim & Dive taught me critical lessons about how to be clutch under pressure, how to be the best teammate I can be, how to work and train even when you don’t feel like it, how to dig deeper, do more than you might have thought you could,” Truwit previously wrote to the News in July. “It taught me what it really means to be part of something bigger than yourself.” 

Swimming brought Truwit to Yale. When a shark attacked her in the water, she relied on 15 years of competitive swimming to save her life. Now, she’ll return home with at least one Olympic medal in Paralympic swimming.

Truwit competed in S10 swimming, a Paralympic classification based on a person’s disability.

Truwit will race again on Sept. 6 in the 100-meter backstroke.