Maddie has been swimming for as long as she can remember and it was early on she figured out “that in the water, you can’t tell that I’m blind necessarily, and so I’m not that different from my peers.”

When she went to her first Paralympic swimming meet, a whole new world opened to her as she met more people with disabilities, and she was no longer the only blind person competing.

Maddie continued to swim with the ASNE swim team through high school, while also competing with her high school swim team at Belmont High.

In 2021, she became the third adaptive swimmer to compete at a Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) state competition, racing in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke.

Maddie is entering her senior year at Fairfield University with a degree in sociology and minors in educational studies and special education.

She credits swimming with helping her develop her determination and adaptability, which she uses to problem-solve and advocate for herself. This determination has played a key role in her life as she prepares to take the LSAT and head to law school after graduation.