Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks (born August 7, 1990) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

swimmer who specializes in the 100m breaststroke distance.

Early life

Marks was born to James Marks, a

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

veteran who served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. She graduated high school at age 16 before attending community colleges in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Marks joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in July 2008 aged 17 and earned the military occupational specialty 68W, Health Care Specialist. While deployed in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in 2010 she suffered bilateral hip injuries that left her disabled; she has a tattoo over most of her right leg. Marks, then known by her married name Elizabeth Wasil, recovered from her injuries, first in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, then at

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC is a 425-bed academic medical center, and is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 trauma center ...

(BAMC) at

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a United States Army, U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam", it is named for the first president o ...

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. While it initially appeared that Marks could be declared unfit for duty by Army medics, she set a goal to become fit for duty. She began swimming as way to complete additional physical therapy and cardio while at BAMC and obtained the fit for duty classification on July 3, 2012.

Career

Marks began competing in swimming competitions shortly after joining the

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorad ...

in July 2012. Paralympian Elizabeth Marks

In 2014, during the

2014 Invictus Games The 2014 Invictus Games were held on 10–14 September 2014. Around 300 competitors from 13 countries which have fought alongside the United Kingdom in recent military campaigns participated. These included the United States, Australia, Canada, ...

, she contracted a severe respiratory infection, which forced doctors at

Papworth Hospital Royal Papworth Hospital is a specialist heart and lung hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridgeshire, England. The Hospital is run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital is a world-leading cardio ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to place her in a medically

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

for one month. The infection left Marks with a reduced lung capacity and prolonged exercise can affect her vision. Marks has won a gold medal at the

2015 Military World Games The 2015 Military World Games (), officially known as the 6th CISM Military World Games () and also known as Mungyeong 2015 (), were hosted from October 2–11, 2015 in Mungyeong, South Korea. The games were the largest military sports event eve ...

and four gold medals at the 2016

Invictus Games The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel, both serving and veterans. The word 'Invictus' is Latin for 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of th ...

. After the ceremony, she privately asked

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

, who had awarded her her gold medals, if he could present one of her Invictus gold medals to the Doctors and Nurses of

who had saved her life. She qualified for the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

by clocking a time of 1:28.54 at the U.S. trials, which was only 0.01 seconds short of the world record. She won an individual gold and a relay bronze medal at the Paralympics. In June 2021 the US announced the 34 Paralympic swimmers who would be going to the delayed

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

in Tokyo. The women's team was Marks,

Jessica Long Jessica Tatiana Long (born February 29, 1992) is a Russian-born American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8_(classification), S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at six ...

, McKenzie Coan, Rebecca Meyers and

Mallory Weggemann Mallory Weggemann (born March 26, 1989) is an American Paralympic swimmer. Career She became a T10-complete paraplegic after an epidural injection to treat post-shingles back pain in 2008.

. On April 14, 2022, Marks was named to the roster to represent the United States at the

2022 World Para Swimming Championships The 2022 World Para Swimming Championships was the 11th edition of the World Para Swimming Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Madeira from 12 to 18 June. The competition was origin ...

. On April 29, 2023, Marks was named to the roster to represent 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 ...

Personal life

Marks is married to former

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

soldier, Mason Heibel.

Recognition

In 2016, Marks received the

Pat Tillman Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr. (November6, 1976– April22, 2004) was an American professional American football, football player for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) who left his sports career and enlisted in the United ...

Award for Service at the

2016 ESPY Awards The 2016 ESPY Awards were held on July 13, 2016. The show, hosted by professional wrestler John Cena, was held in the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. 31 competitive awards and eight honorary awards were presented. Winners and nomi ...

, and, was the only active-duty soldier to receive the award. In 2017, Marks was inducted into the U.S. Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* *
Elizabeth Marks at the IPC Tokyo 2020 website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Elizabeth 1990 births Living people American female breaststroke swimmers American military Olympians Paralympic swimmers for the United States 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 Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Sportspeople from Arizona People from Yavapai County, Arizona Military personnel from Arizona United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army non-commissioned officers U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program S6-classified para swimmers 21st-century American sportswomen