Colleen Young

Started: She took up swimming at age seven. (teamusa.org, 30 Apr 2020; Athlete, 07 Jan 2016) Reason: Her family encouraged her to take part in a range of sports. She played in golf tournaments and swam competitively, but after the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, she chose to focus on swimming. "My mother and my aunt were swimmers and I had no fear of being in the water. Being in the water is like floating, rather than being heavy on land." (colleenroseyoung.com, 01 Mar 2021; stlsportspage.com, 12 Sep 2016; Athlete, 07 Jan 2016) Milestones: At age 14 years and 64 days on the day of her first event, she was the youngest athlete to represent the United States of America in any sport at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 23 Mar 2021; huffingtonpost.com, 30 Aug 2012) Awards: In 2014 she won the Vornbrock Award. The honour is presented to the best female and best male swimmer, as voted by coaches, in Ozark, MO, United States of America. (teamunify.com, 12 Dec 2014) Additional Info: RETIREMENT PLANS She took a four-month break after competing at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and contemplated retirement from competitive sport. "From the outside looking in, it would be fair to assume that I'd be over the moon about my races [in Tokyo], but during the four months I took off from swimming there I was, contemplating retirement and moving on with my life. Vulnerability as an athlete is not something that is often talked about. People don't hear the talks with coaches, teammates, or family, the nerves before the race, the heartbreak after a bad race, the shattered faith after not achieving a goal. All the things listed above are what I felt after my performance in Tokyo, but nobody knew that. So I did what any person would do, googled myself, trying to figure out if swimming was worth continuing. It was watching my growth and improvement as a swimmer that snapped me out of the funk I was in, and suddenly I knew my journey with swimming wasn't over yet. I still have so much more untapped potential in me and I can feel it sitting there waiting to be unleashed. I've been representing the USA internationally since 2011, my first international trip when I was in seventh grade, and yet I feel like I have this new energy and sense of redemption in me that will carry me through to Paris 2024. Paris would be my last Games. I might go to the world championships after that. I'll be 26 at that point and I'll start settling down." (colleenroseyoung.com, 15 Feb 2022; stltoday.com, 18 Jun 2021) FRESH APPROACH During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 she took up daily morning meditation, began writing lists of targets, and started working with a sports psychologist. "I'm trying to take it one day at a time, and focus on one race at a time. If I set this goal, what are the things I need to do to get to that goal? And if I don't get that goal, how am I going to react to it? Honestly, I started talking to a sports psychologist probably about a year ago [speaking in 2021]. I don't know how I did swimming at such a high level without her." (US Association of Blind Athletes Facebook page, 28 May 2021; teamusa.org, 30 Apr 2020) PARALYMPIC EXPERIENCE She was the youngest athlete to represent the United States of America in any sport at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. She was also part of the US national team at the 2016 and 2020 Games. "I definitely loved Rio a whole lot more than London. I was only 14 when I went to London so honestly I didn't really know what was going on half of the time. Don't get me wrong, London was great, but in Rio I was a lot more aware of my goals and what was happening." (colleenroseyoung.com, 15 Feb 2022; hercampus.com, 19 Apr 2017; huffingtonpost.com, 30 Aug 2012) FURTHER EDUCATION After completing a bachelor's degree in communications at Fairfield University in the United States of America, she began studying for a master of business administration [MBA] degree with a focus on health services at Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. (colleenroseyoung.com, 01 Mar 2021) COACHING She has been a volunteer assistant swimming coach at Towson University in the United States of America. (towsontigers.com, 01 Aug 2023)