Krystal Leesa Shaw (born 14 February 1994) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

who competes in international level events. When she was born, she was diagnosed with

arthrogryposis Arthrogryposis (AMC) describes congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. It derives its name from Greek, literally meaning 'curving of joints' (', 'joint'; ', late Latin form of late Greek ', 'hooking'). Children born with one ...

and was born with

club feet Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of ca ...

, a dislocated hip and underdeveloped legs. She also had

gastroschisis Gastroschisis is a birth defect in which the baby's intestines extend outside of the abdomen through a hole next to the belly button. The size of the hole is variable, and other organs including the stomach and liver may also occur outside the b ...

and doctors thought that she would never walk however she did manage to walk after having pins in her leg and a metal frame for six months when she was five years old, after many surgeries she took her first steps aged six years old.

Swimming career

Shaw started swimming aged nine when she had to develop her muscles then started competing in major championships aged fourteen, she won two silver medals in a major competition where she competed against swimmers from her native country,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. She competed for

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

province team in the Canada Games and won a bronze medal. She participated in Canada's national Paralympic swimming team at the 2009 IPC Swimming World Championships. She had to take a seven-year break after developing a

blood clot A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

in her leg and was not allowed to swim. She resumed her career after her long break. Her highest achievement was competing for Canada at the 2019 Parapan American Games where she won four medals in eight events.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Krystal 1994 births Living people Paralympic swimmers for Canada Sportspeople from Moose Jaw Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games Parapan American Games medalists in swimming S7-classified para swimmers Canadian female freestyle swimmers Parapan American Games silver medalists for Canada Parapan American Games bronze medalists for Canada