The Brief
- After losing his leg to a drunk driver in the seventh grade, the Cardinal Newman senior transitioned from wrestling to swimming.
- Despite the mechanical challenges of swimming with a prosthetic, McDonell dropped an “unheard of” 20 seconds off his time in just three months.
- He plans to walk on at Arizona State University this fall, with the ultimate goal of competing in the 2028 Paralympic Games.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – For Eric McDonell, the pool is more than a place for competition; it is a sanctuary where the noise of the world fades into the rhythm of the water.
“It’s you against you—you against your mind,” said McDonell, a senior at Cardinal Newman High School. “When I’m in the pool, I try to be like the water. I like to be as rhythmic and fluid in my movements as possible.”
That fluidity masks a grueling journey of recovery that began years ago.
Life changed in an instant
The backstory:…