OVER LACK OF SUPPORT BECCA MEYERS WITHDRAWS FROM PARALYMPICS

BY MATTHEW DE GEORGE

Citing a lack of support for athletes in Tokyo during the Paralympics, Becca Meyers has withdrawn from what would have been her third Paralympics.

Meyers informed the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee of her decision on Sunday. She spoke to The Washington Post Monday about the decision. Meyers also penned an essay for USA Today on Tuesday.

“I would love to go to Tokyo,” Meyers, 26, told The Post. “Swimming has given me my identity as a person. I’ve always been Becca the Swimmer Girl. I haven’t taken this lightly. This has been very difficult for me. [But] I need to say something to effect change, because this can’t go on any longer.”

Meyers is deaf and blind as a result of Usher syndrome. She requires a personal care assistant (PCA) to complete her daily activities in and out of the pool. Since a bad experience with her assistance at the Rio Olympics, her mother Maria has served as her PCA at international events.

But restrictions surrounding COVID-19 at the Tokyo Olympics have led the organizing committee to limit the presence of non-athletes at the games. When the USOPC informed Meyers that her mother, whose status as a PCA at previous meets had been approved by that body, couldn’t go with her to Tokyo, Meyers elected to pull out of the competition.

“She’s given her entire life for this. It’s unacceptable. It’s heartbreaking,” Maria Meyers said. “She is terrified to go [alone]. And I mean terrified — like, rolled up in a ball, shaking.”

“I haven’t been sleeping. I’m so stressed,” Becca Meyers said. “My training started to suffer because of this situation, and I just haven’t been able to be the best I can be. I know I can be the best I can be with the resources I need. It’s worked for the last four years.”

The Meyers family appealed to people in the U.S. government and within the IOC and IPC, but their petitions have elicited no change.

Meyers was a medal contender in up to four events in Tokyo. She started at the Paralympics in 2012 at age 17 and is one of the most recognized Paralympic swimmers. Meyers won ESPY awards in 2015 and 2017 and has set numerous American and World records. She won three gold medals at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 in the S13 and SM13 categories as well as a silver. She returned from London with a bronze and a silver. Meyers trained at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, then club of Michael Phelps, and Katie Ledecky’s Nation’s Capital Swim Club, two of the top clubs in the nation.

Despite the chance to add to that silverware, Meyers is prioritizing her needs, particularly avoiding a situation in Tokyo where she isn’t being looked after. The fact that the USOPC hasn’t put her, and other Paralympic swimmers’, needs at the forefront is why the she’s taking her stand.

“No one has ever asked me what I need,” Meyers said. “No one has ever asked me that question. When we had a meeting in May to discuss this, I presented my case and I said, ‘Okay, how do we make this work?’ They talked right over me. They dismissed me. They said, ‘This is what we have; you’re going to have to deal with it.’”

Speedo, which sponsors Meyers, also put out a statement:

“Becca has been forced to make a decision that no Paralympian should ever have to make and Speedo fully supports her decision to withdraw from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. As a valued member of Team Speedo, we continue to stand alongside Becca and support her journey and all that makes her an inspiring role model for the next generation of swimmers.”◄