T2's Michelle Konkoly wins 4 Medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics
T2’s Michelle Konkoly wins 4 Medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics
Congratulations to T2 Aquatics athlete Michelle Konkoly, who recently represented the United States at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Michelle was elected to serve as a Team USA Team Captain prior to the Games, and went on to win 2 Individual Gold Medals in the 50 and 100M Freestyles, and 2 Relay Medals – a Silver in the 400 Free Relay and a Bronze in the 400 Medley Relay. In addition, Michelle set a World Record for the S-9 Classification in the 100M Free – breaking a record that was set 8 years ago in the Bejing Paralympics by Paralympic Swimming legend, Natalie Du Toit of South Africa.
Michelle’s path to this performance was not an easy path to travel. Michelle trained consistently well, improving month by month at our T2 Aquatics practices, but did not see more than a half second time drop over 100 Meters for her first 19 months as a T2 Aquatics swimmer. Michelle’s progress in our practices was as clear as her lack of progress on the clock in important races like the 2015 IPC World Championships (where Michelle placed Silver with a time essentially equal to her 2014 time).
Michelle remained mentally strong and retained inner confidence throughout the seasons; instead of becoming disheartened with a lack of improvement in racing speed, Michelle trained harder and smarter. Her training continued to improve through the spring of 2016 while simultaneously our actual work in the pool become more effective (due to our learning through trial and error over months) and more focused (most likely due to the quickly approaching Rio Games).
On July 1st 2016, in a race that qualified her for the 2016 USA Paralympic Team, Michelle set the World Record in the 50 with a time of 28.24. Her previous best in Paralympic competition was 29.1. The next day, racing the 100M Free, Michelle dropped from 1:02.8 (and probably a dozen 1:03.3s over the last 19 months) to a 1:01.2, placing herself squarely in the position of Gold Medal Favorite for the Rio Games in the S-9 Swimming Classification.
The 2016 Rio Paralympics were a continuation of this outstanding progress. Michelle started the Games with a 1:00.91 Gold Medal Performance in the 100M Freestyle, and backed it up with a Paralympic Record and Gold Medal Performance in the 50M Freestyle (28.29). Two Medals on USA Relays followed to finish the week.
By now, many T2 Families and Swimming Fans worldwide know Michelle’s story. Many know that Michelle has recovered from a traumatic accident and resulting injury, regaining the opportunity to live the lifestyle she desires. She fought for and won the opportunity to finish school at Georgetown while continuing to train and compete for the Hoyas. She gained acceptance to multiple medical schools and began a new and different life in Naples. She trained continually harder and more effectively without the benefit of seeing any improvement in competition for 19 months. She then went on to win 4 Medals at the 2016 Paralympics.
But what many may not know is that Michelle has not only accomplished these things, but Michelle has achieved Swimming times in competition that have eclipsed her lifetime best times, prior to her injury. Michelle’s performances from the Paralympic Trials and the Rio Paralympics are faster than the times she was swimming as an able-bodied athlete on her way to competing for an NCAA Division 1 school.
What an amazing example of a person overcoming adversity, and an excellent reminder that anything can and does happen in life!
Michelle’s accomplishment should be a lesson for us. Specifically, here are some of the lessons I hope we take: 1) When faced with adversity, create a goal and don’t be afraid of making that goal a big goal (if the goal scares you a little bit, then it’s probably a good goal); 2) Set yourself up to achieve the goal by working harder than you thought you could ever work; 3) Don’t let lack of apparent progress slow you down if you are training well, and 4) Go after the goal with optimism – planning to be at your best regardless of that which happens outside of your control.
One of Michelle’s next steps will be Medical School at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (sometime in 2017). We all wish her luck with this next step as it approaches.
Way to go Michelle, all of us from T2 Aquatics & the Naples community are proud of you!
Go T2!! Go USA!!
