Team USA’s Ali Truwit wins Paralympic medal 16 months after losing leg from shark bite

(Gray News) – Just 16 months after swimming for her life after being bitten by a shark while snorkeling in the ocean, USA’s Ali Truwit won a silver medal in her Paralympic debut.

The former Yale swimmer made an American record of 4:31.39 in the women’s 400m freestyle s10 Team USA said in a post on X.

After the race, she told reporters everything has come full circle.

“When you are truly faced with death and you understand what a second chance at life means, you want to make the most of it,” Truwit said, CNN reports.

Truwit and a friend were snorkeling in the ocean off Turks and Caicos in May 2023, when a shark charged and bit the swimmer’s leg.

She fought off the shark and went into competitive mode, racing toward the safety of the boat.

Truwit was rushed to the hospital and flown to the United States, where she had three surgeries, including one to amputate her leg below the knee.

Instead of focusing on why this happened to her, she decided to focus on training for the Paralympics.

Initially, she started training for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles but didn’t want to wait.

“She’s just basically a workhorse who refuses to give up,” said her mom, Jody. “That’s who she was before the attack and amputation, and that’s who she is every single day now.”

Truwit said that making Team USA for the Paralympic Games in Paris was a reminder of how strong she is.

“A year ago, I was just working to get back in the water,” Truwit 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.”