PARIS – UNI senior Olivia Chambers became the first Panther swimmer to compete in the Paralympic Games on Thursday as she finished fifth overall in the women’s S13 100-meter butterfly at La Defense Arena on the opening day of competition.
The Little Rock, Arkansas native who is legally blind due to multiple mitochondrial gene deletion syndrome, appeared in the first of five individual races in the combined S12 and S13 classifications, facing off against a field of 16 total swimmers which included fellow Americans Grace Nuhfer and Gia Pergolini.
Entering the games with the sixth fastest S13 time in the field and 12th fastest mark in history, Chambers clocked a morning preliminary heat time of 1:06.79, taking second-place in the first of two heats behind Nuhfer, who recorded the fastest time in the field (1:03.95). Pergolini placed seventh in the second heat (1:08.58), which was won by reigning S13 Paralympic and world champion Carlotta Gilli of Italy.
In the finals, Chambers clocked a time of 1:06.32, her fastest mark of the calendar year to finish strong for a fifth-place finish. Gilli defended her Paralympic title with a winning time of 1:03.27, while Nuhfer took the silver medal for Team USA in 1:03.88, one of three silver medals won by the Americans in the pool on the first day of the games.
WOMEN’S S13 100m BUTTERFLY FINALS RESULTS (Paris 2024 Paralympics)
1st | Gilli Carlotta (Italy) – 1:03.27
2nd | Grace Nuhfer (USA) – 1:03.88
3rd | Muslima Odilova (Uzbekistan) – 1:05.42
4th | Roisin Ni Riain (Ireland) – 1:06.04
5th | Olivia Chambers (USA) – 1:06.32
6th | Maria Delgado Nadal (Spain) – 1:06.70
7th | Joanna Mendak (Poland) – 1:07.15
8th | Shokhsanamkhon Toshpulatova (Uzbekistan) – 1:07.53
UP NEXT IN PARIS
Chambers returns to action on Saturday, Aug. 31 in the women’s S13 400-meter freestyle, an event where she holds the fastest time in the world this year in her classification. Preliminary heats are slated to begin at 3:37 a.m. CT with the finals scheduled for 11:47 a.m. CT. Live coverage can be found on the networks of NBC, including USA Network and Peacock.
(TOP PHOTO of Chambers via Panther Athletics.)