Ali Truwit | Unfiltered Waters

welcome back unfiltered family this week's episode man oh man get like three boxes of tissues ready I don't even know where to begin but I'm so excited cuz we really could not be timing this episode more perfectly today is the start of the paralympic games we have Opening Ceremonies and everything kicks off tomorrow and so in honor of that we knew we had to have a paralympian as our guest for unfiltered Waters and we were so excited that we had the opportunity to interview this person after they had qualified the team before they were going to Paris to really get all the emotions of it but man oh man and I so excited to introduce you guys to Ali truit so Ali Truitt will be a paralympic swimmer competing for Team USA this year in Paris and her competition is just about to start as I mentioned so it's perfect timing for you to get to know her better so you can cheer as loud as possible for her and the rest of Team USA as the par Olympics kick off Ally was a 4year letter winner while swimming for Yale University two days after graduating Yale while on vacation in Turks and caos Ally lost her foot and part of her leg in a shark attack Ally was airlifted to Miami where she underwent her amputation on her 23rd birthday she was back in the water within 3 months of her amputation and qualified for her first Paro Olympic Games less than a year after the attack happened Ali's story is so powerful her mindset how she overcome what she went through I truly could not be more excited for you guys to hear this episode there are so many takeaways from it and you will just walk away feeling so inspired and just absolutely in awe of Ally and her journey and who she is as a person so I can't say anymore I know you guys are going to love this episode here is Ali Truitt [Music] when it comes to my jewelry I need two things I need style and I need convenience oxb sweatproof jewelry has done just that for me I am obsessed because I can swim I can sweat I can shower I can sweat I can 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here we're so excited to learn more about you this is Katie and my first time meeting you so we always love opportunities like that because sometimes we have people on the podcast that we've known for years that we know really well but I think we get it's a different kind of excitement when we get to meet someone that we're looking up to and that we've just loved hearing about you and actually getting to have this conversation just means so much to us and especially with the timing of it all we are literally in between the paralympic trials and you going to Paris to compete at your first paralympic games which is so exciting so today it was Sunday we thought you were going to have an easy day which is why we scheduled it for Sunday and as it turns out you've already trained you've already had PT you've done Pilates so how are things going right now how are you feeling kind of coming off trials and getting ready to go to Paris I'm really excited we have ramp back up in work and trying to pull this all off in just over a year requires a lot of work so it's a busy schedule but um I'm so excited and I think every day I'm finding out new things about what's coming and that's making me just like can't I can't wait for it all to happen so fun wait so you've done you've done all three of those things that Missy just said you've already it's like it's 1:00 is it 1:00 it's like 12 o' that's crazy I love that feeling I feel like on Sundays like it's just such an awesome feeling to be like Oh I'm done like most people are just getting up and you know groggy and tired and you've just done more than most people do in like two days so I I like getting it done in the first half of the day it's yes same we are there's that like meme going around on social right now of it is it the Daniel Craig where he's like dancing in the sunglasses and the like jacket from and he's like moving around the caption is like every swimmer like at 7:00 a.m. when they've already done their workout like on their coffee are like yes am I better than you because of that yes well Ally I want to take it back a little bit I want to learn a little bit about your kind of swimming origin story and you don't have to take it back all the way to like 5 years old but wherever you feel like you kind of found your Rhythm found your passion for the sport yeah um I think I started you know in the water at a really young age alongside My Three Brothers just for water safety and sort of from the super young age that I started I fell in love with the water and so I started swimming Club swimming um some Club swimming at 7 and then I actually played a lot of sports up until 9th grade and at the start of high school I think I started to realize that I wanted to swim at a strong D1 program and a strong Academic School um and started to look at what times that looked like to get recruited and that's sort of where I stopped all my other sports and started really focusing on swimming and trying to chip away at um recruitable times and get as close as I could and um that was sort of for me where I was like really focusing on swimming I was lucky because I was surrounded uh on my club team by so many superstars who helped make that Journey really fun and constantly Be Inspired every day and practiced and post but um I just remember you know my junior year I went on my recruited trip to Yale and fell in love with the school the place the people and it was a really special moment to be able to commit there and my grandpa was actually first generation to Yale so it was a really special moment for us too to be able to share that um and I was also really excited because my high school actually didn't have a high school team I grew up on Club swimming and so it was a really fun opportunity for me to go to college and be able to compete as a part of a team oh my gosh and especially at a university like Yale too I mean it's amazing that your family has such a history with it and I loved that you played all those different sports up until 9th grade like I think that's so amazing Katie and I talk about that all the time we had our moms on the podcast and they said the same thing like just getting that experience and that you got to do it with your brothers where do you fall in the three brothers what order technically I'm the oldest but only by one minute I have a twin brother oh my gosh and then I have two younger brothers but we're all within three years of age so it's lucky cuz we're really God bless your mom I know that's amazing and how like GE geographically how close are all of you at this point in your lives you kind of all over the place um my twin brother is close to me recently he be in California but he just moved which is exciting he's a block away from me in New York City and um my two younger brothers are still in college so my youngest brother's at Duke and my middle brother's at UVA well it's a shame you don't have a smarter family well that's the next thing I feel like people who go to Ivy League schools just say like oh yeah like I just had to decide if I wanted to go to Yale or Harvard like I mean can we just talk about how smart you are for a second that is so awesome did you when you went on those recruiting trips because of the family history and correct me but did your mother swim at y as well you did yes amazing so with that like did you go into that recruiting trip kind of knowing like I think this is it this is really where I want to go or was it until you like set foot on campus and actually experienced it for yourself that I just kind of nailed it in like Yep this is where I meant to be I think I um knew that I wanted to go to a school that I was going to be pushed athletically and academically and so I had a few schools in mind and then I waited kind of for my recruited trip to step on campus and that was when I really knew and and my mom was great cuz like I'm a very indecisive person and I wanted someone else to help me make the decision of where I was going to college and she was like you have worked for this you're making it yourself like I'm not going to this is yours and so that was nice too cuz I was truly like completely um free to make whatever felt right for me in terms of a decision but it was one of those things where I stepped on campus and just absolutely loved it just new I want to talk about you said you have some stars on your club team which I feel like you know Missy and I both have experienced where when you're in that culture it's just like yeah I'm going to go swimm in college yeah I want to go to the Olympics like it just breeds Excellence so can you talk about what that was like growing up yeah you're completely right and I think it's one of those things I look back on my swim career so fortunate to have constantly be surrounded by or been surrounded by people who are like amazing um and it started from a young age with Alex and Gretchen you know when I was 12 years old uh and Kate through high school and I could list so many more who went on to swim at UVA in Texas and amazing Swim Schools and um for me it was just this opportunity to come in every day and one be pushed in practice to places I didn't think I could go but to be inspired by the way that they set goals and it would encourage me to set bigger goals for myself too and to see them make you know what I would look at and think was impossible possible um gave me the courage to try to achieve more than I maybe thought I was capable of also it's like that mindset where I'm so happy that you did swim in college and we a part of of that team because I feel like so many may look at that scenario and be almost intimidated by being on a team with people that are so talented but for you to be able to just see the opportunity that lies within that and to use it so much to your advantage of like I am surrounded by this incredible community and these amazing athletes and people and I get to watch them and observe and like I know I am also bringing something to the table every single day like I think that is just it's so cool and I love that our younger listeners in particular are getting to hear that and then you getting to go to Yale how were your four years there and was that team aspect everything that you dreamt it would be my time at y was literally magical I loved it and I love my favorite thing to do is talk about my teammates they're so incredible and I think you know in terms of school um it was high pressure to perform in the classroom and also perform in the pool and we all had a blast doing that and I think that was a great reminder for me that the path to my goals could simultaneously be high pressure and really fun um and I think when I think about my team you know I left Yale with the most incredible friends who are my friends for life two of whom Sophie and Hannah were instrumental and saving my life but so many of whom have just been there for me in this first year in ways I couldn't have even imagined or expected um you know it started getting home from the hospital and creating a guest room for me with photos of all of us to make it feel more like home it's continued throughout this entire year of my first time in public on one leg before I was fit for a prosthetic was with three teammates you know I just got home from trials and they're standing on my doorstep celebrating me and it's just moments like those where you're like this is a team for life like yes it's those four years and that's incredible but it extends far beyond that so much oh my gosh and I I love that and that was a huge reason why I ass in college too and I remember everyone kind of made fun of me cuz the reason I gave when everyone was like why do you want want this so bad it's cuz I was like these are going to be the girls that are bridesmaids in my wedding which happened which happened I was like I know this like I know the power of not only being on a team but being on a swim team Y and you know that just from being on the national team from the club teams like the teammates that you have that like what you go through together just there's not many other life experiences that Bond you in that way and it's just those relationships that you know are going to last you forever was so happy that you had that what did you end up majoring in I majored in cognitive science with the depth and behavioral economics cool cool cool cool so like I said so what so what profession does that lead to so right now I'm going I was supposed to start but I delayed it to try for the Paralympics but uh uh Consulting at Mackenzie so just like General management consulting um and then I'm headed to business school and I think after that I want to end up in the healthcare space but it's sort of this idea like behavioral economics is the idea that traditional economics um and the models in that um area predict that a consumer will behave a certain way if you're looking at optimal behavior and in the real world we see people deviate from that and the reason lies in like behavioral economics whether that's framing or layout or different psychological tactics that um companies can use and I'm a big believer in emotional intelligence which kind of fits hand inand with that and I've done a ton of research in that area and so I thought it was really cool that like even with these models that predict what's optimal and what it should be we see deviations because of different kind of like mind games or different like strategies that you can use so I I really so cool there and there's like a little overlap there with sports too like as I'm listening to you definitely like I've just been watching the uh is it called Sprinter the Netflix documentary Sprint or Sprinter yes the Netflix documentary that came out about track and Fields and it's kind of wild it's so fun to see the comparison of like the trash talk and the Mind Games in track and field versus swimming at least in my own personal experience yeah but like it really like it's so funny to see like how it is embedded in that culture and it's just like such a huge piece for some athletes not for all but it's it's been so fun so it's really cool that that's one of those things that kind of transcends both areas of your life that are so important to you does that mean that you're really good at trash talk and intimidation in the ready room if she really gives me those vibes you give those vibes for sure my mom always jokes with me she's like I don't understand it because you're like the sweetest out of the pool and somehow you get in there and are so competitive like what is the switch I'm like I don't really know I don't know that's the most like deadly people though it's like you could be like oh my gosh like so sweet I mean you're like that it's like so sweet and then you're like oh my God no what what happened you know it's like that's the most undercover like I love that so um well Ally I you know I I'm going to preface saying this because I know you have talked about this 1 million times but you did bring up the past year how much your teammates have helped you so we would love to hear about what happened a year ago as much as you're willing as little as you're willing whatever you'd like um but I mean I'll just share like I am deathly afraid of sharks like like I will not even go into the ocean so hearing your story has just been so impactful I I can't even imagine all of it so I would love to hear your experience um yeah I'm done with oceans for now too so um but uh so I guess 2 days after my college graduation a year ago um I was going on a trip with one of my best friends Sophie who was actually the captain of the lwim team my freshman year and we were celebrating my graduation from college and hers from medical school and we on our first full day there were snorkeling um and we were kind of leisurely making our way back to the boat after we had snorkled for 30 or so minutes when seemingly out of nowhere a shark came up and started attacking us um and it was really aggressive like bumping us and ramming us and uh we fought back shoving it and kicking it and I think that was just the only thing we could think to do in that moment but pretty quickly it had my leg in its mouth and the next thing I knew it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg um and we screamed for help but no help came and so we made the Split Second decis decision to swim for our lives to safety back to the boat um and it was roughly 75 yards in the open ocean water um and I was footless and bleeding uh and both of us knew that a shark was still circling and uh the shark actually came back a second time during the swim back to the boat but thankfully didn't bite either of us that time um and immediately upon getting on the boat Sophie tied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding on my leg and save my life and when the bleeding didn't stop enough the first time she actually tightened the tourniquet a second time and held my bleeding leg up against her chest the whole boat ride back and ambulance arrived to the hospital um and I look at that and like we were talking about the power of Team like that is just an incredible moment of yes it was incredible that Sophie had the medical knowledge to do that and had just um graduated medical school but that's a friend and bravery and strength and courage and composure in the face of nightmare um more than it is a doctor it's the power of team and friendship and Selfless Love and um I'm truly forever indebted to her it's like incomprehensible to me what she did for me um and from that hospital I spent a few hours in the Turks and cost hospital um my family was actually in the United States at the time uh and those were really long painful hours um waiting to be airlifted to a Miami trauma hospital um and when I got to the Miami trauma hospital I wasn't yet allowed to see my parents who were meeting me there because I had to be taken the resuscitation room and the first person I saw getting off the ambulance was Hannah who was a senior diver and Sophie's best friend and all three of us have been friend in friends in college um and she was actually in medical school in rotations at that exact trauma hospital and so she was able to be with me initation room and before I could see my parents and during all my scary surgeries um which was another like incred miracle in my story of just like in this world of unluckiness of what happened there was a lot of luck in how it all played out um in terms of the fact that I'm still alive and we stayed conscious in the water and calm and able to make decisions and um that Sophie was there and Hannah was there and uh I went through two life-saving surgeries in Miami to fight infection um and then I was airlifted to New York for my third surgery of the week which was a um transtibial amputation on my 23rd birthday oh my gosh thank you for sharing all you so much I mean saying that we're sorry that that happened doesn't even like begin to cover it we're so thankful that you're okay and your courage to share your story and everything that has come since I truly think it's going to impact more lives than you can ever imagine so just thank you for your courage thank you for your bravery and I can't even imagine the emotions that would have been going through your head in that hospital how was it the first time you did get to see your parents and see your family after everything um my family I'm so lucky that my family is such a tit unit and um it's almost like I used to have this when I came home from college where I think I was fine and then I'd come home and hug my mom and actually feel so like oh my gosh and that was kind of the same thing that happened where um I think in those early hours I knew I was in a life or death situation and at risk of bleeding out or dying or um I needed to stay strong and so I actually remember in the Turks hospital my mom started crying on the phone and was like I'm so sorry this happened and I was like don't cry mom don't cry like it's not time for that yet and when I first saw her in the Miami hospital that was the first time I cried um and so we all just were there and crying for a little bit and then I think we actually had the head surgeon of the trauma Hospital come in and say before I save your life I need to save your life and that kind of quickly put things in perspective for us of it's one thing to know it but it's another to hear the head surgeon of the trauma Hospital say it to you um and so from that moment on they were just I mean even before that but the most incredible support I could have had and my mom stayed with me on the phone in the Turks Hospital repeating mantras with me she's actually a cognitive behavioral therapist so those skills came in very handy um but yeah I think that was one of the like a moment that we will share forever and I think is just one of those moments where everyone was like cut to their core um just a raw emotional moment what was the main Mantra that helped you the most I have a few um I have I can and I will and then I have I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me um and then a lot of Just Breath work it was a lot of breath work and then there were different ones that she would kind of pick for the moment like I was like I'm in so much pain but I didn't want to take any um really heavy pain medications at the start just because I knew I wanted to be like aware of what was happening I I didn't have my family with me or anything and so um I would tell my mom I was in so much pain and she would say is it any better and I was like a little bit and she was like focus on that and then we would repeat it's a little bit better it's a little bit better um so but mostly I can and I will and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me that's beautiful I know so powerful and such a good reminder of the power of words in in those moments very few of us have experienced moments like that so to that the power they provided you in those times too is is absolutely amazing and you've talked about this before in other interviews you literally ran a marathon 10 days before this attack happened and one of your greatest fears sitting there was am I ever going to be able to to run again so how were you dealing with those fears as they were coming to you while you were laying there in your hospital bed um I had so many fears laying in my hospital bed um a million things wearing shorts and skirts and having my prosthetic be seen like a simple joy of a 23y old girl say you're 23 and I couldn't Envision it I was like I'll never wear short skirts again um and then fears about yeah I value exercise in athletics and that's been who I am my whole life and what was that going to look like I couldn't even Envision my next step um and I knew nothing about Prosthetics it was all so new for me and I had so many fears about what people would think about what I would think um and I think a big one for me like I mentioned was Sport and how valuable that's been to me my whole life and how I was going to get back to it and I think um you know for me moving forward from the attack uh I guess in the hospital I was really grateful my family was incredible because they just let me go through what I needed to go through at the pace that felt right for me and so um in the hospital I had the fears and we would discuss the fears and we didn't need an answer it wasn't sometimes it was you'll get back to that and we know you will and sometimes it was like you're going to find that out we don't need the end right now you can go through it and feel it and question it and um show yourself later on and I think leaving the hospital I was really fortunate that early on um a good friend gave me a book called when bad things happen to good people and in the book the author's message is we can't control what happens to us we can only control how we respond and how we make meaning of it and when I read that I just decided in that moment that I was not I was going to do my best to not sit in the question of why me why this happen to me but instead to think about how could I make meaning of this um and I think you know in those early days there was a lot of loss and a lot of pain and a lot of Tears um but I tried really hard to focus on the positives and it sometimes doesn't feel like a choice just because of how serious what I've lost is but I try to remind myself that it's a choice how I view what happened to me and how I think about my future and what I've ultimately tried to do is just look at the Miracles in my story and really hold tight to those and that started in the hospital like I mentioned just thinking about um the luck of who was with me the fact that neither of us you when I think about that I'm like I do not know how I didn't freeze in fear or pass out in the water when a shark attacked us twice um and so to think about the miracle that that's how we responded or that Sophie tied to tourni AIT or you know that I was able to ultimately be flown to a trauma Hospital in Miami and Hannah was there and um all along the way is scattered with Miracles um coming down mostly to the fact that I'm alive and sitting here today and so for me um that I think was the biggest thing to start early on looking at all the positive amidst some negative um and I think when I came home I decided I was just going to work to really Center my myself on gratitude for all that I do have and all that I still can do um each day of recovery and that allowed me um to sit and think that I feel like this year for me is a year a pivotal year for how I set up the rest of my life and a year for me to quell my fears and to show myself all that I can do that I was worried I couldn't and I wanted to set the precedent really early on for myself that I wasn't going to let what happened to me stopped me from doing or achieving what I thought I was capable of um and I think I found that you know I interviewed for haror business school 5 days after my amputation from a hospital bed I my gosh I ran the Turkey Trot you know less than six months after the amputation the 5K with my family and now I'm headed to the Paralympics and so I think it was this great moment for me early on I was like I'm just not going to let this stop me I'm going to use the support I have and get up and try here at UNFI Waters we have a big summer coming up and that means lots of time in a hotel room on an airplane and lots of opportunities to mess up our sleep Missy and I have to be on and ready for the action and we can't be worrying about being sleep deprived I am obsessed with this dream tape I have been using it for 6 months and let me tell you I fall asleep faster I wake up more rested it's breathable it's super soft and super easy to take off and I am so so grateful to dream recovery for providing us with the ability to be on when we need to and well rested throughout a crazy busy year we have a special code for you it's code unfiltered for 30% off your first order and 50% off your first month of dream tape sweet dreams I am so excited to be recording this ad because our Endless Pool in our home is officially done we have done all the landscaping around it everything looks incredible and you guys I cannot tell you enough how happy we are with it so Hayes and I made the decision to buy an endless pool and have it put in our backyard we of course both love the water we want it to be a big part of our family life and we thought what better way to have access to the pool every single day than having one in our own backyard so for those of you guys that don't know end this pool it's a smaller pool but it has a current in it so you can set the current to any time any speed that you want and you can still essentially swim left against the current and you can also turn the current off and just use it as a normal pool we have been in it every single night after dinner Kaitlyn refuses to get out of it and it's just so amazing knowing that whenever we want to swim we literally just get to walk outside and hop in our pool so we are so happy with this it's one of the best things we've done for ourselves and for our home we all love being back in the water again we've got an incredible discount for you guys you can go to endless pools.com unfiltered for eth ,000 off but their website is also a great place to learn more about all the different products they offer to see if endless pools is right for you and your family we talk about perspective on this podcast and just to each other all the time like something as scary as you know Harvard Business School interviews or really anything has your perspective completely shifted and kind of bled into all aspects of your life at this point yes um and you know I work hard to look for the Silver Linings in my story and that definitely is one of them and I think I've noticed it on a small scale of that I'm someone who's very typ a and used to be super strict about like on time to everything and all of it and I think that has so shifted for me where I'm like okay I know much bigger problems than being 2 minutes late to acupuncture today so like deep breath um but also just in terms of like the realization that we're all so much stronger than we think and that has allowed me in so many areas of my life to just think this is hard and watch me try anyway rather than shying away from it well it's just like it's so evident to me as well that your heart is so centered in Christ as well just like hearing you speak about you know going through what you've been through and you're sitting here and you're telling us about how you're looking for the Miracles and what it is that you experienced and how you're using that pain and you're turning it into purpose and so I just I wanted to acknowledge that like how beautiful and how powerful that is so thank you for shining his light through you because it is so blinding that it is just such a huge part of your life and it's so beautiful how you're using that perspective and along with perspective this idea of mindset you talk about doing this business interview running a Turkey Trot you started competing I mean you got back in the pool very very quickly how were you able to make that mind shift of okay I can do anything I will do anything I'm not going to let this stop me were there tools that you use was there anything in particular that really got you from the hospital bed to wearing a prosthetic to swimming to run like how did that progression look for you I would probably say two things which is first I would say that my whole life the only way I know through fear is through facing it and so um it took a moment I was scared I had all those fears I had tears I had worries I had lots of days crying on the couch but um you know ultimately that's the way I knew through fear just face it and so I think I knew that that's what how this was going to go after I got myself back up um I was going to face my fears one by one and I'm still working through them but um I think that was one thing for me that sort of unfolded naturally in the path but the more you show yourself you can the it's encouraging it keeps you going and so one by one as I was showing myself I can get back in the water I can get through a flashback to the attack I can run um all those little I can I can wear a short skirt and have people see my prosthetic you know like all of that kind of feeds into the next step and so letting yourself just giving yourself the opportunity to show yourself you can is the hugest first step and I would say for me none of it would be possible without my support system and um I have I know that I'm so lucky for the support system I have and it just makes me think that like for anyone out there if you can be that for someone else do and know Act is too small a text like a call a visit whatever it is it really moves the person forward and so um you know headed into the Paralympics I stand on the shoulders of a village of support who got me to that place that I would not be without them I think we're just going to re-release this episode every week for the rest of know just have it on like a repe never going to have another guest we're only going to release Ali's episode every Wednesday seriously oh my God go um I I want to hear a little bit about that Community I know we've had Jessica long on the podcast um and so hearing just the support that she's given you that she's given I mean hundreds of athletes how did she step into your journey of support yeah so uh Jessica and I actually have the same prosthetist Eric at a step ahead and he heard that I was back in the water and he was like I have the perfect person to connect you with like oh light bulb I know someone you can talk to it's like she could not have been more of a perfect person to be connected with and was so great with me at the start of just kind of walking me through what the steps would look like and what her path has been but also taking it outside of swimming um you know to have confidence in the water you need to have confidence out of the water and Jess is a great example of that and for me someone I looked to that I was like she rocks it like she has two prosthetic legs and she's awesome and could I be like that and um it was a hopeful moment for me and also such a learning moment for me to get on the phone with her and talk about you know first we started on swimming and we moved to what fuzzy slippers best fit on a prosthetic and that was like a real concern I was having was what shoes do you put on it's hard and it like you have to struggle to get so it was so helpful to hear her just talk about everything and then um I remember I left the call and I felt so excited I went to the kitchen tell my mom and I was like she's incredible she's done so much incredible stuff she was so helpful um and from there it just completely like multiplied in the support she gave me as I continued down the Paras swimming path um and what's cool is that she's been such a support and I could list so many women um and men in the pism team who have been such a support for me in this first year you know I had a phone call with Morgan Stickney I got Lizzie Smith came for coffee in New York City with me I was training in the pool a few weeks ago with mallerie Wegman um there's just McKenzie Cohen was my first roommate at the Olympic Training Center and that was the first time I roomed with anyone um post attack and so I think like there's just a list of incredible people who are willing to help excited to help and don't make you feel like it's like a burden to have to um need that help too yeah oh my gosh that's amazing and even just hearing you listing them all off I'm like Oh my godible they're amazing and it it's so I had no doubt but it's so wonderful to hear how you have felt that support from that Community tell us about Paras swimming Olympic trials I mean how was that it's you know less than a year which is unbelievable you just posted a video to day of it being a year from when you took your first steps of the prosthetic what was it like going into Paras swimming Olympic trials did you go in there what was the goal was it just I'm the fact that I'm here is in and of itself it or was there really a part of you that was like no I really want to make this Paro Olympic team I say both yeah and that's a tricky balance to strike to be like I'm so proud of myself for being here and this is amazing that I'm even here a year out and also I have a really big goal that I want to achieve um that's the competitor in you and I was like it's so confusing to kind of feel both of those and not let one like you know if you are like I'm so proud I'm here it almost like I didn't want it to make me complacent with where I was I wanted to still go for the goal but I also didn't want to feel this like huge sense of pressure of like I have to make it and I really want to make it and that's going to um not let me kind of enjoy where I am and feel proud of how far I've come in a year and the fact that I'm even at paralympic trials trying to make Team USA um a year out from a shark attack so I did feel both of them and I think something that was actually really helpful for me was Gretchen I am like their super fans they're my best friends but to wor don't worry we're fully team Walsh over here water so I watched her press conference after one of her races from Trump and she said something that helped me so much and I think also before that I had looked at her as someone who I really prefer to work in silence I like to like work at my goals achieve them and then share them or if I don't I can also share that but I don't want I'm not someone who typically involves people in the whole journey there and publicly announces what I'm going for and um just because of the nature of what I was trying to do here and the fact that I had to delay my job and um had a bunch of friends supporting me every day in on what I was doing I did have to announce publicly that I was GNA try to make the Paralympics and delay my job and you know I truthfully didn't know if I could pull it off or not and um I think for me looking at Gretchen who just like fearlessly announces or maybe there is fear involved but um announces you know her goals I think about that video they posted where she was like I want to win all of my NCAA events and break all the records and then they fast forward to where she's done it and I was like she just is someone who's so incredible to look at for that example of I can announce my goals and carry the pressure and still achieve um um and then in her press conference I think from there what I felt really nervous about is people would come up and say I had all these fears about like I don't want people to be disappointed if they think I make it and I don't or I don't know just kind of that kind of thing and um then it was I know you're going to go and make it and I know you're going to win and I know and I was like don't say that like you don't know I don't know and um and greton said at her press conference like uh to try to make the mental shift which she's done of um instead of viewing people's like sentences like that as pressure or a stressor can I instead metabolize it as confidence in me and a belief in me and my abilities and I thought that was the coolest Point um and so I was really working on that heading into trial so thank you Gretchen but uh just to try to think about those pressures that I was feeling externally as confidence and belief in me and then the pressures internally um are always there I think normalizing nerves was really helpful for me I'm going to feel nervous this is something I want to achieve and I've worked for and um it's high pressure and that's okay and I've performed under pressure before and I'm going to try to do it again and um really also reminding myself I have a lot of new fears in parisan about things that um I would have never even thought about when I was me in college like where am I taking my prosthetic leg off behind the blocks who's bringing it to me after am I going to shake on the blocks on one leg um you know all these different things that are new for me and I kind of centered myself on the idea that I'm adaptable and the attack showed me that and the year following showed me that and um I can't sit here and say everything's going to be okay and someone's definitely going to bring my leg after or I'm not going to shake it all but I can say I'm adaptable so what happens I'll adapt and that was really comforting um and I think for me going in and feeling I did really try to go in and I think I'm a forward-looking person and I try to kind of constantly set the next goal and I made an effort to just sit and think about um just really feel proud of myself for how far I've come in a year and the fact that that's where I was and that's how I got up after a life-changing trauma um and also the fact that my coach was there with me I think that like we've together been on such a journey that I really didn't want to be pleasant on the pool deck and not let nerves rule me but instead enjoy that moment with him oh my gosh that's so beautiful I know I mean we we kind of hate this question because we feel like the athletes get asked all the time but I have to ask it like how did you feel when you made the that we're allowed to ask that I mean like I truly I can't even imagine like just in general making a par Olympic team and making Team USA but with I mean within a year of your attack what did that feel like for you yeah um I'm so excited and I think mostly I feel pride and gratitude uh I would say I'm really proud of myself like and I don't hit the pause button to do that a lot and this is one of those moment moments where I'm taking it to just sit and feel really proud of how far I've come and if you asked me um where I would be a year after a shark attack and an amputation and losing my foot and part of my leg I would have said the couch and probably crying too so and I've done plenty of that but to think that now I'm headed to the Paris par Olympics a year later um is mind-blowing and um just makes me really proud of the fight that I've tried to have this year and the way that I've kind of risen back up after life knocked me down and um you know making it in just over a year was a really tall order because it's a tall order regardless um and then to layer in just medical complications of the first year postamputation and infections and appointments and prosthetic training it was a lot and it was hard and it was an ambitious goal and so mostly I just feel really proud of myself um and I feel proud of myself even for the pursuit of the goal too but it does it's a cherry on top that I get to make it um and I think uh I also just feel so much gratitude for um all of the support like I would not be where I am without all of the people that got me there and um my family is incredible at just at holding my sadness with me when that's where we are making me laugh when they can you know when I first got back in the water my brothers who are not swimmers were racing me in the backyard pool they mostly fall starting and um and then my coach who like that is I think where I feel the most gratitude to is just he's been on a journey this first year of um not only has his training plan and technique adjustments been so incredible he's a really great coach but um he's also been so patient with my new needs and my moods and my sometimes tearful process of acceptance and um he's actually in school to become a therapist right now which I think is so great you know as we continue to um emphasize mental health and Sport I think that that is such a special thing that he um is in tune with all of that too and it's really been helpful for me truthfully um I think I'm really good at pushing through when things are hard and that actually comes easier to me than giving myself Grace on the bad days and he's been so great at like kind of helping me recognize the days that I need to be pushed he's pushing me and that's where we're at and I can work hard and then helping me also just have Grace with myself on the days that um you know we need to sit and cry and feel the feels um but he is incredible and I'm also really excited because he was selected as a Team USA Co y that's awesome that is the most special thing that we started this together and we'll get to finish it together too so wow I'm excited on a lot of fronts but yeah it did feel really great to be able to kind of finish that meet and be like I set out to do this I worked really hard and I've done it that's incredible your coach which also like could we maybe have like required therapy classes for all coaches I yes that's a whole another podcast for all Humanity Ally I'm curious is there something that you wish from a physical emotional mental perspective that someone had told you as you started this journey getting your prosthetic is there something that would be helpful for someone else who's starting that journey to hear yeah I think two things I would say one is just from an emotional perspective um a big fear of mine was how people would see me and I was really worried about that um including my friends I remember even like the first day I asked my coach to come back and train me which was just for exercise at that point I was so worried about making him uncomfortable by seeing my amputated leg and he responded and was like I've seen childbirth twice for my two kids like you're going to have to try a lot harder I for someone like that but I think you know if you're um sitting there with just worried about how people are going to see you or something it's a great reminder I think what I've seen in this year is like you're not defined by an arm or a leg you're defined by your heart and people see that and the people that love you know that and and and you'll feel it and I think for me that was a really big worry early on and I've been day after day reminded of it by incredible friends and family and love and support um and the second thing I would say is I sat a year ago in the hospital with a million fears running through my mind was I ever going to run again was I ever going to swim again would I ever wear a short skirt again um you will and so you know everyone's path looks different but we all have the power to rise back up up and we're all stronger than we think and we have so much more in us than we might think so um you know it's easier said than done but I would just encourage people to know that like they will get there and so assuage the fear of never getting back up because I think that's what all of us are doing in our own capacity um you know I'm unique in that I'm one of few who's been attacked by a shark but I'm one of many who's undergone traumatic change and had to deal with you know the grief and the loss and the pain and the healing that follows and that's what my story really is is a story of how life knocks us down and how we rise again again on a repeat real I know I'm like well as a side job motivational speaking will be very much up your alley thank you so much for Shing so for our listeners we're recording this right now in like mid July but we're airing this during the Paralympics so what classification are you and where can our listeners watch for you at the par Olympic Games so I am an S10 um and I am swimming the 100 free 100 back and 400 free at the par Olympics which are August 28th to September 8th amazing we're so excited oh my gosh we are so excited for you and the whole experience you're going to have before we get into some fun kind of Rapid Fire questions we would love to hear more about this incredible nonprofit that you have started stronger than you think thank you yeah I um you know I'm working hard to make me out of a trauma that feels senseless and random that happened to me and the idea that I could use it to help other people um you know makes a little bit of sense out of something that feels like it makes no sense and so I'm really excited by the opportunity to start a nonprofit and be able to help other people um I think for me you know as scary and painful and devastating as the attack was it's also taught me so much and this first year has taught me so much about um exposing me to experiences and communities and opening my eyes to challenges um and needs and areas of growth for all those different communities and so my nonprofit that I started is called stronger than youth.org and um I started a nonprofit stronger than you.org and what it aims to do is support people who have experienced limb loss in their families um provide opportunities through perah activities and peras Sport and increase awareness and access to water safety and I think all three of those areas for me you know swimming saved my life and I think I never truly understood the really really deep importance of water safety and now more than ever I do and so I'm excited to help um that area I think for me becoming an ampute at 23 years old was a really hard pill to swallow to say the least um and the doctor's appointments and the physical therapist and the Prosthetics everything costs money and even with good insurance it's really expensive and I've never been aware of how expensive Prosthetics are and how much a of a privilege it is to be able to um afford or you know have insurance cover some of that but I do think that it's so hard and such a challenge to navigate life with prosthetics that everyone who needs one should have access to the proper needs and doctors and Prosthetics that they need so I'm really excited that the foundation gives to that as well and then lastly I would say um you know the paral Olympic movement for me has been so empowering and I think of myself when this happened just as a shell of myself scared of the past of what had just happened to me in constant pain in the present and so worried about my future and I think that the gift that Paras swimming gave me when I think about you know the past and the present and the future swirling in my head was that I truly think that um the goal of the par Olympics and being involved in par with me in this first year was the most healing thing I could have done and so I'm excited that um you know the way that it's enabled me to focus on what I do have as opposed to what I don't I hope it helps um other people feel stronger in that way too and I'm excited that the foundation um is going to help there too it is a New Foundation in its early stages but I am really excited about prioritizing the continuation of its growth and just making impact in that way amazing thank you so much for sharing all that thank you for starting that and for all of our listeners if you're looking to support Ally in any way I know that supporting the stronger than you think Foundation would mean the world to her and to us so that would be a great place to start yeah absolutely all right is it time it's time for Rapid Fire Alie I have a Obsession some might say with like all would say all would say all would say rapid fire questions are just questions that doesn't even have to be rapid fire but like that are just so random that are going completely throw you off your game yeah like so don't be nervous but just I'll I'll say this I love it because it does throw people off their game but it just shows you as a person and your personality and so it's just that's that's this podcast yes yes so Missy you got to go cuz the first one is amazing okay you want me the really you kick it off okay the superpow one the oh the bug you want me to do that one first it is so good okay she thought of this and I thought it was the best question all right if you see a bug in inside your house are you the kind of person that kills it or rescues it and lets it go I get someone else to kill it oh even an exension yep okay I love that I will do depending on how so we answered this earlier and I was like oh no like there's some that I'll save only to figure out really the only one that I ever save is the ladybug like if it's a spider like for sure that thing is going but depending on how big the spider is that's an immediate you're calling I she was listen she like no I definitely would kill like aider a stink buug a fly but like the ladybug I'm like so just ladybug yeah all right that's it that's the only one I save it's fair um all right next up so you obviously swm at Yale Harvard is a huge rival so if you could have I get I'm going to mess this up so if Harvard could you take Harvard beating you in any swim of event any sporting event or to prevent that you had to do the hardest workout you've ever done for a year straight what would you pick hardest workout I've ever done for you nice not even love that so that's good that's good I love it that's true that's that's true loyalty yeah all right if you could have any superpower in the world what would it be any superpower in the world okay this is kind of a silly one but it's one I always think about I am the worst sleeper and I think it would be so cool I get so jealous of people who just like fall asleep right away and I would like to have that superpower and just be able to like fall asleep right away wherever I was we will also be sending you a package from dream recovery you are you a mouth gever because let's talk offline we could maybe just give you that superow we'll be sending you some things all right very simple ideal date um H I like like a picnic in the Park oh like Central Park yeah yes I that uh some of the top things I know you're not going to have a ton of time and I'm not sure if you're saying after but some of the top things that you want to do while you're in Paris um well I'm really excited about Opening Ceremonies yeah shly say that is super cool um and also just like you mentioned crazy for me to think about that a year ago today I took my first steps on a prosthetic and now I get to see sit here A year later and tell you that in a few weeks I'm going to be taking my first steps down the Chamis say as a paralympian is crazy um so I'm really excited about that I'm excited to try some good food and I'm really excited because um Alex Gretchen and Kate are all um coordinating plans to be able to come and watch the Paralympics and they're coming to support me but also the whole movement um they said they've like been moved by how much strength it's given me and what it can do for people and so I think for me I'm really excited to have them in the stands but also for the whole movement and everyone on Deck I'm excited to have such Superstars and legends in the stands I mean what an amazing example that you know we know a lot of athletes have obligations but if you're competing at the Olympics as an athlete and you have the ability to stay after and cheer on your fellow Team USA at the paral Olympics what an incredible opportunity to do something like that I love that they're doing that's awesome that's awesome all right Switching gears completely most embarrassing outfit you've ever worn oh gosh I've worn a a lot of bad outfit you can give us a couple um I was really into the phase of sugar lips I don't know if you guys have oh yes wait am I old too old for that what is that it's like a really stretchy tank top but I used to stretch it to make it a dress and it not okay so that was probably one of them and then I'd like put belts around like it was not the belt I hated the belt face like every department store you went in you're like how about this like but are you put a belt with it and you're like stop pushing the belts on [Laughter] me I can see it the the tank and the belt combo is yep pristine it'll come back I feel like every fashion trend comes back around like 20 years later so I'm sure at some point we're going to be like in our 40s trying to wear I think I just saw the thing that's starting to come back is like the longer shirt SL dress over the jeans oh I know I know love that I don't love that I don't yeah if only we had known to keep everything we ever bought from Justice unlimited to un limited to was the best Buckle oh my I was not a I was not a buckle I wasn't I'm just naming Wet Seal I've never heard of that in my life okay that's right moving on okay those are the end of our rapid fire we are so thankful for your time we know that you have so much else going on so we'll head into our final three questions and we asked these of every single amazing person that we have on the podcast but the first one and this can be pre- shark attack post shark attack whatever is right for you a moment within your swimming career that has brought you the most amount of Joy I would say um pre- shark attack 2019 all Ivy championships um I think it was just this really special moment for me where um I was on this team of incredibly incredible women who were also unified in achieving the same goal and I think it was the awesome team Dynamic that year and so many people to learn from and love and so many people who are still instrumental in my life um but so special to have everybody kind of rowing in the same direction and also I feel like a meet where everyone swam really well and it's really fun when everyone is getting the pay off for their work too yeah yeah that's one of the best best feelings ever I love that yeah all right so second question moment or memory outside the sport of swimming that's brought you the most amount of Joy I think um honestly I would just pick a lot of moments with my family in our family room I never laugh harder than with when I'm with my brothers and my parents and so I think like when I think of ultimate Joy I think of like crowded around our family room around a holiday just joking and having fun are they all going to be able to get to go to Paris they are I have like almost 50 people 5 yeah rightfully so that speaks volumes about you sis I was surprised by it but it is really touching no that's amazing I'm so happy you're going to have that support there it's going to make it so special and our final question if you had to pick a word or a mantra you've thrown out a lot today that are all so powerful so I know it'll be really hard to pick one but one that holds a lot of meaning to you that you would look to every day to kind of keep moving forward keep motivating you what would that word or Mantra be and why my word would be kugi um and she saw my face I'm like what my at my 24th birthday party actually um my friend surprised me and each friend wrote a word that made them think of me and Hannah wrote kugi and it stood out to me for me but also for all of us and basically what kugi is is is a Japanese art form where they take broken pottery and they repair it back together and the cracks that are paired back together are seamed with gold and the idea is that you Embrace Brokenness and find beauty in it rather than try to hide it and this notion that um you come out the other side better and the idea that um you know we can all find our new better yes broken but hopefully even more beautiful as we are put back together okay well I'm going to go cry now that's no that is I mean Ally we've had 30 words thrown at us that's my favorite word I think hands down I'm getting because of how perfectly it applies to you and I have so many people yeah thank you so much for sharing that oh my gosh and everything Ali thank you we have just it's been such a joy for us to get to know you we know our listeners will feel the same as well and we are so excited to cheer you on at the paralympic games but also well Beyond in everything that you do in this life with your nonprofit with your work outside of the pool inside the pool just thank you for your courage and your bravery and your vulnerability and for being you and sharing it all with us here on the podcast we are so grateful thank you guys I'm huge fan of you and the podcast thanks love all right we go crush them in Paris thank you [Music]