The most important piece of advice that Paralympic champion Mikaela Jenkins can offer young athletes is that you should love what you do, and do what you love in all areas of life.

And while the 21-year-old from Evansville, Indiana, still loves to swim, she recently made the decision to retire from Para competition to focus on her final year of college and her future out of the pool.

“I’m going to miss my friends who swim Para who I won’t get to see as much, and I’ll miss competing at that level,” she said. “Paralympic competition is definitely unique and something I am grateful for because I learned so much from competing at such an elite level. I will definitely miss it. But now it is time for me to focus on school and the next season of my life.”

Jenkins, who was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and had her left foot amputated as an infant, won gold medals in the 100-meter butterfly S10 as well as the 4x100-meter medley relay 34 points at her Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2021. She also earned four world championship medals, including gold in the 100 butterfly S10 in 2019. She was named to the world championships roster last summer but opted out due to academic commitments.

Jenkins is a student at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. She’s a varsity member of the swim team (Division III) and a molecular biology major with a chemistry minor, both rigorous courses of study, and is currently deciding whether to pursue medical school or graduate school focused in some aspect of the chemistry field. Either way, she plans to continue her education after completing her undergraduate degree.

With the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 approaching, Jenkins started asking the tough questions of herself last year about her path moving forward and what would make her happiest.

“I love swimming, but I’ve not been able to give it 100 percent of my effort,” she said. “And if I can’t dedicate myself fully to something it makes me feel guilty for not being able to do that. It was hard to find a good balance between everything. Not giving 100 percent to too many areas of my life that I’m invested in was just putting more stress on me than I think I realized. I knew something needed to be dropped.”

Jenkins started swimming at 4 years old and competing at 8. She raced in her first Para meet at 13, and went to the world championships for the first time in 2019. The decision to retire was difficult because of the upcoming Paralympics and the opportunity to return to the Games, but after many conversations with friends and family — who all gave her the opportunity to come to the decision on her own, she said — she realized she needed to give herself a break in one area of her life.

“And obviously I can’t sacrifice school,” she said. “I had become so stressed that it was making swimming not fun.”

That certainly was not always the case. Jenkins said that her accomplishments throughout the years are all special, and all the moments mean something different to her. One standout is the gold medal she won at the world championships in 2019.

“My best friend, Julia Gaffney, got her first world champion medal that night, too, so we got to celebrate together,” she said. “That was a very special moment.”

Jenkins also cherishes the gold she won as part of the relay in Tokyo along with Hannah Aspden, Jessica Long and Morgan Stickney.

“The relay I swam in Tokyo was the last all-female relay; at least for now,” she said. “Being a part of that relay for Team USA was really special, and it was a privilege to be up there with those girls, especially since we are all good friends. It really meant a lot to represent the United States of America with those girls.”

Jenkins hopes to see the Paralympic Movement continue to grow in the coming years, and she also hopes to see more colleges and universities support Para athletes.

And while her Para career may be over, she’ll still compete as a member of the Grove City team her senior year and continue to swim after her college career is over.

“In high school, I swam with the U.S. masters group in Evansville for extra training and I really loved swimming with the adults,” she said. “I could totally see myself continuing to swim with that group in the future.”

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Mikaela Jenkins Gave Her All To Para Swimming, And Now It’s Time To Walk Away

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