American Swimmer Set to Compete in Paralympics 1 Year After Losing Her Leg in Shark Attack

A year after losing her leg in a shark attack, swimmer Ali Truwit is ready for her return to the water.

Truwit, 24, will represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympics following the shocking incident in May 2023 when she was bitten by a shark while snorkeling in the ocean off Turks and Caicos.

In the aftermath, Truwit — who swam collegiately at Yale — was airlifted back to the United States where she underwent three surgeries, including having her left leg amputated below the knee.

Now, she’s set to compete in the 100 free, 400 free and the 100 back events when the Paralympics begin Thursday, August 29.

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“I love comeback stories,” Truwit told the Associated Press . “I’ve definitely relied on other people’s comeback stories to help me hold on to what feels like a bold and unrealistic hope — of fighting off a shark and surviving and losing a limb and making the Paralympics all in a year.”

Truwit thought about holding off until the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles, but said, “I’m not someone who waits.”

“I don’t let fear rule my life,” Truwit explained. “I had lost enough and anything that was on the table for me to regain, I was going to fight to regain it. I didn’t want to lose a limb and my love of the water, too.”

Truwit admitted there were “a lot of dark days” after the attack, but she gradually began finding herself again once she returned to the water.

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“I was just really curious how I was going to feel being back on the pool deck and back in a competitive space,” she said. “The more I worked at it, the flashbacks reduced and the pain lessened.”

Truwit is on the hunt for gold in Paris, but whether or not she makes the podium, she knows she’s already accomplished something far greater.

“A year ago, I was just working to get back in the water,” she said. “I now get back in the water and that sense of joy comes back, and the smile comes back. To have that again is something I’m so thankful for. Honestly, it’s one of the moments in my swim career that I’m the proudest of, because I know how much work it took.”

The 2024 Paris Paralympics swimming competitions start Thursday.