Three Spokane athletes will soon fly to Paris and represent the U.S. in the track and field portion of the Paralympic Games. One of them is sprinter Taylor Swanson.
Growing up in Seattle, Taylor Swanson played soccer.
“A lot of my friends and teammates did both track and soccer and they kind of pushed me to do track, and I fell in love with it immediately," she said.
She ran the sprints for her team at Roosevelt High School and she was fast. After high school, she continued to compete in club events during her time in college.
Ten years ago, Swanson hurt her knee. She endured several surgeries and physical therapy, but her recovery was slow. Still, she wanted to continue competing. One day her physical therapist had a thought: maybe you should consider running in Para sports.
“A little over a year ago, I came to Spokane to do a track meet, where they just did an unofficial classification just to see, am I even classable? Like, am I able to compete in Para?” she said.
Turns out, that question would soon be answered, but in an unexpected way.
“That's when I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which I didn't know I had growing up," she said.
For Swanson, the news made sense. She had struggled in school, struggled with other things in her life. The diagnosis opened a door to allow her to continue her athletic career, but she says there was no one in Seattle who could help her make the transition.
“I kind of had to figure it out on my own, and that's kind of how I ended up in Spokane for a track meet, and that's when everything kind of took off," she said.
Swanson began training with David Greig and others at ParaSport Spokane. They changed her routine so that she trained less often, but more strategically.
It has certainly paid off. Last year, Swanson qualified for the ParaPan American Games in Chile, where she won two silver medals. Then in May, she represented the U.S. at the World Para Athletics Championships in Japan and won two more silver medals. Last month, she competed in the U.S. Paralympics trials in Florida and won a spot on the American team.
“I think it's been really good just having all these amazing opportunities to compete both nationally and internationally just to give myself confidence of ‘Hey, yeah, I can do this,’ and just seeing, meeting new people, because I'm so new to Para," she said.
In Paris, she’ll run the 100 and 200 meters and a leg of a race called the Universal 4x100 Relay.
“Basically it's a combination of male, female, and different classifications," she said. "The first leg is someone who is vision impaired. And then the second leg is an amputee of some sort. And then I'll be third leg, which is cerebral palsy. And then fourth leg is a wheelchair racer.”
It’s a Paralympics-only event, one in which the American team took gold in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
After Paris, Swanson’s keeping her options open. The 2028 Paralympics will be held in Los Angeles.
ParaSport Spokane will hold a public send-off event for Swanson and her Paralympics teammates on August 18. They will leave for Europe on August 20. The Paralympic Games begin August 28. NBC and Peacock will air many of its sports.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk to Paralympic wheelchair racer Lauren Fields.
