Mallory Weggemann is a seasoned Paralympian swimmer, with five medals to her name.
However, the 2024 Paris Paralympics will be a little different for the 35-year-old American as she competes as a mother for the first time.
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Weggemann and her husband, Jay Snyder, welcomed their first baby, Charlotte Ann, on March 16, 2023. But what made the birth so heartwarming is that she competed at the 2022 Paris Swimming National Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 26 weeks pregnant.
“When I got behind the blocks, little one decided they’re going to get moving and grooving and I was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go show some people what we can do,’” Weggemann told NBC about the flutters she got in her belly before competing in the 50m butterfly event.
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Ironically, Weggemann and Snyder hadn't known the gender of the baby at the time of the meet but had chosen the name "Charlotte" for a baby girl long before.
Now, the three-time gold medalist Weggemann heads to Paris with a new sense of motivation: winning for the family.
“You better believe I’m going to be the best mom that I can be to this child, but at the end of the day, I’m also going to fight to sit atop the Paralympic podium in Paris in 2024," Weggemann said. "To be able to share that as a family, it’s just this feeling of complete and utter joy of what that moment would be."
Weggemann, who is a three-time USA Swimming Disabled Swimmer of the Year and two-time World Disabled Swimmer of the Year, became a paraplegic in 2008 from an epidural injection to treat post-shingles back pain.
That didn’t stop her, as just under four months later, she was back in the pool with her eyes set on gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
She went on to earn medals in London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 in addition to competing at Rio 2016.
Not only will Weggemann make a splash in the Paralympic Games this year, but she will also serve as a host for NBCUniversal’s Paris Olympic coverage on CNBC and E!, making her the first Paralympian to host the coverage for NBCUniveral.
Weggemann will swim for gold in Paris when the Paralympic action kicks off between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7. She will be swimming alongside 20 other women and 12 men who have been nominated to the 2024 Paralympic Team in the French capital.
