Gophers' Summer Schmit qualifies for U.S. Paralympic Team

It's the junior swimmer's second time qualifying for the Americans' Paralympic squad.

Gophers swimmer Summer Schmit qualified for the U.S. Paralympic Team on Sunday with a trio of first-place finishes at the U.S. Olympic trials. / Gopher Athletics

Gophers swim team junior Summer Schmit won the 100-meter breaststroke, the 200-meter medley and the 400-meter freestyle at the U.S. Paralympic trials in Minneapolis on Sunday to qualify for the U.S. Paralympic team for the second time. 

Schmit, 20, a Stillwater, Minn., native, finished more than 11 seconds faster than second-place finisher Sarah Bofinger in the 100-meter breaststroke, posting a time of 1:25.22. She also took first place in the 200-meter medley with a time of 2:39.34 and the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:52.27, finishing about three seconds faster in each than the second-place finisher. 

Schmit was born with congenital disarticulation of the right wrist and does not have a right hand. 

Schmit previously qualified for the U.S. Paralympic team in 2020 and competed in the 200-meter medley, earning a fifth-place finish, the 100-meter fly, where she took sixth place, and the 400-meter freestyle, where she posted a seventh-place finish. 

Schmit earned a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2022 World Championships and finished fourth in the 200-meter medley at that event. 

The Mahtomedi High School grad will now get a chance to build on that in Paris. 

This past season for the U, Schmit broke the S9 Para American record at the Minnesota Invite, posting a time of 1:14.48 in the 100-meter breaststroke. She was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree this season, too, and was named the hardest worker on the team and earned the Outstanding Student-Athlete Award during her freshman season in 2022-23.