Christie Raleigh Crossley (born June 20, 1987) is an American

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming (sport), swimming for athletes with disability, disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Swimming at the Summer Paralympics, Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions through ...

. They represented the United States at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Early life and education

Raleigh grew up playing several sports, including playing in the boys' leagues for basketball and baseball. In middle school they made the decision to focus on swimming, with dreams of making the Olympic team. At

Toms River High School South Toms River High School South is a comprehensive four-year public high school, and was the first high school established in Toms River (formerly Dover Township) in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through ...

, they were a state champion and became the second freshman in state history to become the state record-holder in any swimming event. They moved to Florida when they were 15 to attend

Pine Crest School Pine Crest School is a private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan, who also served as the school's first president. The ...

, where they were a four-time high school state champion in Florida. After graduating from Pine Crest, they received a scholarship to swim for

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. They competed there for two years, earning multiple accolades including Athletic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year, and two back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American honors. An opportunity arose to finish out their NCAA career at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. Instead, they got married, and three months later was pregnant with their first daughter. They then transferred to

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. Founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents, the scho ...

where they won an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

national title in the butterfly.

Career

On March 12, 2023, at the Citi Para Swimming World Series, Raleigh Crossley set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in the 50 metre backstroke S9 event with a time of 32.01. They then represented the United States at the

2023 World Para Swimming Championships The 2023 World Para Swimming Championships was the 12th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for swimmers with disabilities. It was held in Manchester, Great Britain from 31 July to 6 August 202 ...

, where they won a gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke S9 event. On June 30, 2024, they were named to team USA's roster to compete at the

. Despite facing bullying and defamation from multiple teammates during the Paralympic Games, Raleigh Crossley became the most decorated

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

athlete in Paris bringing home 5 medals and a World Record in the S9 50 metre Freestyle which was a Silver medal performance in the S10 50 metre Freestyle. The S9 50 metre Freestyle was not an event at the Paris Paralympics. Athletes with a higher level of disability are able to "swim up" to compete against athletes with lesser affected disabilities. Raleigh Crossley also won two Gold's in both the S9 100 metre Butterfly and S9 100 metre Backstroke, as well as another Silver in the S9 100 metre Freestyle and a Bronze as the anchor member of the 34 Point Mixed Medley Relay. All five events were new American Records.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

stated "One of the greatest comeback stories we've ever told" when covering their accolades in the performing at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal life

In 2007 Raleigh Crossley was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street and suffered three herniated discs in their neck and one in their lower back. In 2008 they were involved in another accident where they were hit by a car as a pedestrian. The blunt force trauma triggered a non-cancerous tumor to start developing in their brain, and as a result they began to lose function on the left side of their body. On December 12, 2018, while on a ski trip with their family, Raleigh Crossley's son picked up what he thought was a snowball and struck them in the head. The snowball was actually a block of ice, and they sustained a traumatic brain injury. They experienced paralysis on their left side due to the bleeding of a previously unknown blood tumor in their brain. On January 7, 2019, they had the tumor removed. In February 2025, Raleigh Crossley announced on their Instagram page that multiple cancerous masses had been found in their body and would be undergoing cancer treatments. Raleigh Crossley has three children and is a survivor of domestic violence.Raleigh Crossley Domestic Violence Instagram
/ref> They are non-binary, using "she/her" and "they/them" pronouns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raleigh Crossley, Christie 1987 births Living people American female swimmers American non-binary sportspeople Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic swimmers for the United States Swimmers from New Jersey Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey S8-classified para swimmers Toms River High School South alumni Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in swimming 21st-century American sportswomen Florida State Seminoles women's swimmers