The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Riverside sophomore grateful for para state
Julia Hixson stood by Lane 2 on Feb. 24 at Canton McKinley’s Branin Natatorium, basking in the applause of the crowd and appreciative of what the moment meant.
The Riverside sophomore had just won the second para event of the day, the 100-yard backstroke, with the first coming earlier in the meet with a 50 freestyle.
It wasn’t so much about times or technical aspects.
Rather, it was the broader significance on this afternoon.
For the first time Feb. 24, amid the Division II girls state swimming meet, para events were contested at state for the first time in Ohio. They had been introduced the year prior in district competition, with an eye for 2021 to bring those events to state.
Hixson — who was profiled in The News-Herald after those swims at the D-II Cleveland State District in 2020 — won the 100 back and was second in the 50 free in a seven-swimmer field.
The Beavers’ standout, who earned a spot on the 2020 NewsHerald girls swimming and diving all-stars as the first girls para swimmer of the year, was born without her right leg.
Her competitive spirit and desire to be treated as an equal serves as an inspiration to the broader area swimming community, a status that only grows with a chance to compete at state.
“It’s really amazing,” Hixson said. “All of these girls are so amazing. They have all worked really hard to do this this year. We train for this all year, so it’s really exciting.”
For the record, the other girls para swimmers from around Ohio in that historic first state field were Granville’s Elizabeth Hedger, Sandusky Perkins’ Alyson West, Otsego’s Abby Gase, Dayton Carroll’s Hanna Lebanoff, Sandusky’s Jayde Malone and Hathaway Brown’s Ava Piliang.
Feb. 25 during the D-II boys state meet, five swimmers took part in those para events: Centerville’s Alex Cooper and Carson Bruner, River Valley’s Bryson Hummel, Winton Hills’ Manuel McMenemy and North Olmsted’s Dominik Fartea.
Hixson competed earlier this year at the WRC meet, with times of 1:10.32 in the 100 free and 1:18.30 in the 100 back, good for 25th and 18th, respectively.
In Hixson’s first trip to Canton and Branin Natatorium, she recorded a time of 32.25 seconds to take second to Lebanoff, more than a second drop from her seed time. For the 100 back, Hixson won with a 1:16.60.
The 50 free marked a .10 drop from when she competed at CSU last winter. The 100 back time was good for a commendable 4.22 drop from CSU, showing the work Hixson has been logging over the past year.
Unfortunately, the only drawback for Hixson was her name was spelled incorrectly on the heat sheet.
Nonetheless, Hixson deemed it an honor to compete in Canton.
“I have never swam at this pool,” Hixson said. “Obviously, this was my first state meet. But I’m just really honored and glad to be there and that this is a thing, that this competition is able to happen for these girls.
“(With the pandemic,) our school shut down for a little bit. That was obviously a little bit concerning. I had faith that this was going to happen, that people would do the right thing. If it didn’t happen, then that was the right thing and that was safe for everybody else. So whatever happened, happened.”
What did happen was a breakthrough long overdue.
Over two days of D-II state competition, during which the para events were contested, undoubtedly the loudest ovations in Canton came for the para competitors, Hixson included.
The concept of the history involved was never far from anyone’s mind.
So as Hixson stood on her crutches by Lane 2, she knew exactly what the moment meant, for her in the present and for those who in the future.
“I think it’s really amazing that these girls can make it this far, to compete in such a big meet like this,” Hixson said. “We train just as hard as everyone else. We work really, really hard to just keep up with the other kids. So it’s really meaningful to have our own little thing at this meet.”