STAMFORD, Conn. — A swimmer from Connecticut begins her journey for Olympic glory beginning on Thursday in the Paralympic Trials.
Darien swimmer, Ali Truwit, is competing in Minneapolis for a spot in Paris on Team USA nearly one year after surviving a shark attack.
Truwit's life revolves around seconds, as a second separates her from first or second place in the pool. But it's the one split second that made time stand still.
"A shark came out of nowhere and started attacking us and bumping us and ramming into us. We fought back pushing it and kicking it but it had my leg in its mouth and next thing I knew it bit off my foot and part of my leg," said Truwit.
Truwit and a Yale swimming teammate were snorkeling in Turks and Caicos two days after earning her diploma.
It was the sport she trained for all her life—that saved it.
"We made the split-second decision to save ourselves and to swim for our lives. We swam about 75 yards back to the boat, me footless and bleeding profusely," said Truwit. "Knowing how to swim well completely saved my life."
Truwit's teammate stopped the bleeding. She was airlifted back to the U.S.
After several life-saving surgeries, she underwent a leg amputation from the knee down on her 23rd birthday.
Within the losses, she found gains.
"Was I ever going to run again, was I going to walk again, would I wear short skirts and let people see my leg? The things I could fight to get back that I didn’t have to lose, like my love of the water, were things I was going to fight to get back," said Truwit.
Stroke by stroke, she's now fighting for Paralympic glory.
"It's jaw-dropping, it’s shocking, said Jamie Barrone, Truwit's coach. "Every time I talk about it I get teary-eyed and I don’t cry ever. She took a really, really awful situation and has made the best out of it, it’s true."
The Darien native already set the American record in the 100-meter backstroke.
"Everything she’s doing is already so incredible so this is the cherry on the top if she makes it," said Truwit's mom, Jody. "She’s already done an unbelievable job facing her recovery and working so hard to stay positive, working so hard to stay optimistic about what she still has not just what she’s lost."
The silver lining may be better than gold.
'We can’t control what happens to us but we can control how we react and how we respond we can control how we make meaning of it," said Truwit.
In the pool, she may be defined by seconds, but she's learned that one split second will never define her life.
Truwit will compete Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Team USA will be announced on Sunday. Stick with FOX61 for updates on Truwit's journey to gold.
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Lindsey Kane is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at Lkane@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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