TOKYO BOUND! Women's Swimming's Currie Qualifies for 2020 Summer Paralympic Games

Links: Currie's Team USA Page | Team USA Team Trials Recap

MINNEAPOLIS – Merrimack College women's swimming rising senior, Cailin Currie, qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games over the weekend at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. 

Currie qualified for this summer's games after she competed as a vision-impaired athlete and placed second in her division in the 400-meter freestyle, third in the 50-meter freestyle and fourth in the 100-meter butterfly. It's the second time that the Danvers, Mass. native has qualified for the games, as she swam in the red, white and blue at the 2016 Rio games in the 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly and has been a member of Team USA throughout her time at Merrimack. 

"Going to Tokyo for my second games has been my goal since Rio in 2016," said Currie. "With the limited amount of training and competition, I can't believe my dream came true. I'm so excited to represent Team USA once again on the world's biggest stage!"

In North Andover, Currie is the former record holder in the 200-meter freestyle and is a current member of the Warriors' record-holding 800-meter freestyle relay team. She deferred competition on the squad this past year due to the pandemic, but plans to return to campus this fall and rejoin the team for her senior season. 

"I know Cailin had Tokyo as a goal when she came in as a freshmen, and I'm so proud of her for earning her spot," said Merrimack College women's swimming head coach, Erin Cammann. "She has always been so disciplined about training—swimming and training for Para competition during the spring seasons when the rest of the swimmers had breaks—and she really needed that discipline this past year. It's just fantastic to see her reach her goal, and I can't wait to see what she can accomplish in Tokyo."

The 2020 Paralympics are set to open Aug. 24 in Japan with opening ceremonies, then the swimming competition begins the following day and concludes Sep. 3.

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