Rebecca Meyers (born November 20, 1994, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

) is a

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

swimmer of the United States. She won three gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016. She was also a member of the 2012 Paralympic Team, and won a silver and bronze in London. Rebecca Meyers has also competed at the

2009 Summer Deaflympics The 2009 Summer Deaflympics (), officially known as the XXI Summer Deaflympic Games and commonly known as Taipei 2009, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 5 to 15 September 2009 in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China). I ...

which was held in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, which is also her only appearance at the

Deaflympics The Deaflympics also known as Deaflympiad (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are a periodic series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at which Deaf athlet ...

. She also clinched a bronze medal in the freestyle relay event in the

Biography

Meyers has

Usher syndrome Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes result ...

and has been deaf since she was born. Since she was young she has used a

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for improved speech und ...

, an electronic device that allows her to hear. Meyers is also losing her vision to a disease called

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

(RP), and has a

Seeing Eye dog Guide dogs (colloquially known in the US as seeing-eye dogs) are assistance dogs trained to lead blind or visually impaired people around obstacles. Although dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are red–green colour blin ...

named Birdie, who helps her navigate the world. In 2015 and 2017, Meyers received a

Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award The Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the community of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic s ...

. She won gold in record time at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

. She grew up in Baltimore, attended Notre Dame Prep and went on to graduate from

Franklin and Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frankli ...

in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where she studied history with a concentration in Disability Studies. She was a club swimmer with Loyola Blakefield Aquatics for eleven years. In 2012, she joined

North Baltimore Aquatic Club The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1968, it continues to offer training for young swimmers. It is best known for developing a dozen Olympic swimmers, six of whom earned gold m ...

where Michael Phelps trained. Becca then switched to

Nation's Capital Swim Club The Nation's Capital Swim Club (NCAP) is a swim club in the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) area. The club was created in 1978 as the Curl-Burke Swim Club. It changed its name to NCAP in September 2012. In 2016 USA Swimming ranked it the top clu ...

located in Bethesda, MD, where she trains under Bruce Gemmell, Katie Ledecky's coach. She holds multiple world records in the S13 and S12 classes. 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, was an international 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 International Paralym ...

in Tokyo. The women's team was Meyers,

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

McKenzie Coan McKenzie Coan (born June 14, 1996) is an American swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she swam the 400m Freestyle in the S8 category. Coan was one of four S8 category swimmers chosen to compete for Team USA at the games. She later ...

Elizabeth Marks Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks (born August 7, 1990) is an American Paralympic swimmer who specializes in the 100m breaststroke distance. Early life Marks was born to James Marks, a U.S. Marine veteran who served during the Vietnam Wa ...

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 July 20, 2021, Meyers withdrew from the Paralympics after being denied her request for a

personal care assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includ ...

due to reduced allocation of staff members amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

International

2019: London, England World Para Swimming Championships * 1 gold medal: 400M Freestyle * 1 silver medal: 200M Individual Medley * 2 bronze medal: 100M Freestyle and 100M Butterfly * Set 2 World Records: 400M Freestyle and 200M Individual Medley * Set 5 American Records: 400M Freestyle, 200M Individual Medley, 100M Freestyle, 50M Freestyle, and 100M Breaststroke 2017: Mexico City, Mexico World Para Swimming Championships * 1 gold medal: 400M Freestyle * 2 silver medals: 100M Butterfly and 100M Freestyle * 1 bronze medal: 100M breastroke 2015: Glasgow, Scotland IPC Swimming World Championships * 2 gold medals: 200M Individual Medley and 400M Freestyle * 1 silver medal: 100M Butterfly * Set 2 world records in the S13 classification: 200M Individual Medley and 400M Freestyle 2014: Pasadena, California Pan Pac Para-Swimming Championships * 4 gold medals: 100M Butterfly, 100M Freestyle, 400M Freestyle, and 200M Individual Medley * 2 silver medals: 100M Breaststroke and 50M Freestyle * Set 2 world record in the S13 classification: 200M Individual Medley and 400M Freestyle 2013: Montreal, Canada IPC Swimming World Championships * 2 gold medals: 200M Individual Medley and 400M Freestyle * 2 silver medals: 100M Butterfly and 100M Freestyle 2011: Coimbra, Portugal 3rd World Deaf Swimming Championships * 4 gold medals: 200M Freestyle, 400M Freestyle, 800M Freestyle, and 4x200M Freestyle Relay * Set world record in the 4x200M Freestyle Relay * Set deaf world championship record in 800M Freestyle 2009 Deaflympics Taipei, Taiwan * Bronze medal in the 4x200M Freestyle Relay * Set American record in the 4x200M Freestyle Relay

Awards and honors

2017: *ESPN ESPY award winner: Best Female Athlete with a Disability *Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year Nominee. 2016: * Trischa Zorn Award presented by USA Swimming * Team USA Finalist: Female Athlete of the Paralympic Games * NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving Championships: placed 6th overall in the 1650y freestyle; named to the All-America Team 2015: * ESPN ESPY award winner Best Female Athlete with a Disability * Team USA Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year Finalist 2011 * USADF Sportsperson of the Year presented by USA Deaf Sports Federation

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyers, Rebecca Living people 1994 births Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic swimmers for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States World record holders in paralympic swimming American disabled sportspeople Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States American female freestyle swimmers Sportspeople from Baltimore Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics S13-classified para swimmers Deaf swimmers American deaf people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming 21st-century American women American female medley swimmers

Biography

International

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links