“Apologies for not being in class. I swear I have a good excuse.”
That’s the email Grace Nuhfer plans to send to her college professors at the University of Akron, she said as she sat with a Paralympic silver medal draped around her neck.
The 22-year-old is entering her senior year at Akron, where she’s majoring in data analytics with a focus in marketing and is a member of the non-para swimming team.
The semester has already begun, so Nuhfer will have some catching up to do once she returns home from Paris, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Just a year after making a splash in her para swimming debut at the California Classic — where she swept all six of her events and set an S13 American record in the 200m butterfly — Nuhfer not only made her Paralympic debut, but won the silver medal in her first event (100m butterfly).
It's a moment she has been visualizing and perhaps manifesting since the Paralympic medals were unveiled earlier this year
“I actually had someone at my school help me print out an image of the Paralympic medals and I had it taped in my locker so I looked at a picture of the medals every day going into training,” Nuhfer said.
Nuhfer and her sister Elaina both have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of genetic connective tissue disorders that affect the skin, joints and blood vessels. They also have brittle cornea syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that impacts their vision and makes their corneas prone to rupturing.
“Growing up my sister and I weren’t allowed to play any sports with balls, bats or rackets because the nature of our genetic disorder makes our eyes extremely fragile,” Nuhfer said. “We tried running, we tried dancing but (having) Ehlers-Danlos also just made things hard and painful, so swimming was kind of the only option left, but I’m really grateful I fell in love with it.”
Nuhfer began swimming competitively when she was 7 years old and always had big dreams.
“Growing up swimming able-bodied, it was always a really big dream of mine to make the Olympics,” Nuhfer said. “Once I started growing into the para space and realized where I stood and what possibilities were out there, (the Paralympics) became a really big goal of mine.”
When Nuhfer is swimming, her vision prohibits her from seeing anything aside from the black line at the bottom of the pool. Throughout her career — spanning from club competitions to college meets and the Paralympics — Nuhfer attributes her success in the water to the unwavering support of her teammates.
“Everyone has been super helpful and made sure that I knew what was going on or helped me with sets or intervals or looking at the clock, which has been really sweet,” Nuhfer said.
Nuhfer’s debut Paralympics are not done just yet.
She is scheduled to compete in two more events in Paris: the 50m freestyle on Sept. 2 and the 200 individual medley on Sept. 3.
“I have a lot of amazing teammates in the S13 classification who are going to be going through these events with me, so I’m just excited to have these moments with them and whatever the outcome … if an S13 American is on the podium — no matter who it is — I’m going to be completely ecstatic.”
Then it’s back to Akron to get her senior year underway. And of course the silver medal is coming to campus with her.
“I definitely want to show my teammates (the medal) because they’re a big reason as to why it's around my neck right now.”
