‘Overwhelming’ Support Fueled Natalie Sims During Trials In Her Home State

A polite applause, sometimes with an enthusiastic whoop mixed in, greeted each American swimmer called to the front of the reception room inside U.S. Bank Stadium on the morning of Sunday, June 30.

Then Natalie Sims stepped forward, and the Minnesota Vikings might well have just scored a touchdown.

Though the crowd might have been some 60,000 shy of the stadium’s usual tenant, Sims, of nearby Edina, Minnesota, had no shortage of family and friends on hand to cheer her on as the 27-year-old officially accepted her spot on a third U.S. Paralympic team.

Speaking later that day, Sims kept coming back to one word to describe her weekend competing in the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials near her hometown: overwhelming.

“It’s been an overwhelming amount of support,” said Sims, one of 23 returning Paralympians on the 33-person U.S. team that will compete starting Aug. 29 in Paris. “I didn’t think a lot of my friends or family were going to show up, and then I looked up in the stands and there was a huge crowd, so definitely very cool to see that.” 

The huge crowd of Sims supporters flocked to the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota from June 27-29 to watch her compete at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials. Sims swam in three races — the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley, all in the S9 classification — and qualified for the final in each one.

This is the second time Sims has participated in a trials in her home state. Three years ago, the qualifying meet to the Tokyo Games took place at the same venue.

Last time was different, though, with no spectators allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sims enjoyed this year’s experience much more and said the home crowd helped her qualify for the Games.

“It’s very surreal to have trials here again. You know, it’s been awesome just seeing family and friends here,” said Sims, who graduated from Edina High School and attended college a few hours away at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “To hear my name, just staying behind the blocks and see my parents especially, and all my loved ones, it’s overwhelming.”

Sims grew up loving the water. It didn’t matter if it was a pool at a local waterpark or a lake by a cabin, Sims always wanted to be the last out of the water. Swimming was an activity for her, though, not a sport.

That changed when Sims joined the Minneapolis Otters — a youth swimming team run out of a local YWCA — when she was 13. Born without a right hand, Sims quickly got into Para swimming races. In a six-year span, she went from a beginner to swimming in four events at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

In the years since, Sims has competed at the 2017 world championships — winning two golds and three bronzes — as well as the Tokyo Paralympics. Thus far, her best finish at the Games was seventh in the women’s 100 freestyle S9 in Tokyo.

Now gearing up for her third Paralympics, she’s excited to bring her Minnesota support system to Paris.

“My family will be there; that will be a huge game changer,” Sims said.

On top of her family, Sims will also receive local support from Summer Schmit, a Stillwater, Minnesota, native who’s competed at the University of Minnesota for the past three years after making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

Sims trained with Schmit and the Gophers this past season in preparation for Paris. The training partners then faced off against each other at trials in the 200 IM S9, with Schmit beating out Sims by more than four seconds.

“(Summer) was there in Tokyo but it’s extra special to be swimming in the same pool, and to share this experience with her will be awesome,” Sims said.

Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to usparaswimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.