Brickelle Bro wants girls with disabilities to realize they don’t have to be held back.
Born with a congenital birth defect that left her without feet, Bro hasn’t let anything stop her.
The 15-year-old Rock Canyon High School sophomore will be the youngest member of the U.S. swim team at the Paralympics in London in August, and she wants to use her success as a platform to encourage other girls with disabilities to go for their dreams through her foundation, My Feet Don’t Stink.
“When I was younger, we kind of wished there was not only more information but more stuff saying just because you are disabled doesn’t mean you can’t do this stuff,” Bro said.
After swimming competitively for four years, Bro has been training nearly every day this summer, sometimes twice a day, with the Castle Rock club swimming team.
“The biggest thing is the overall act of choosing to do a sport, choosing to take off her prosthetics and get in the pool and swim — that’s the biggest hurdle,” said Mike Novell, the swim club’s head coach. “Once she’s in the water, she’s just like any other athlete.”
Bro said there was only a slight chance she would be able to go to the Paralympics a few months ago, so she has been working ever since to get there.
“I think it would be awesome to drop even more time and come home with a medal, but it’s also incredible to just go and represent the USA,” she said. “It’s kind of intimidating, almost, because there are these older people who are so good, and it’s incredible also that I’m so young and I’m able to compete.”
The Paralympics will run Aug. 27 to Sept. 9, after the Olympics are over Aug. 12. She will train in Germany for two weeks beforehand to get acclimated to the time zone.
Her dad, Layne Bro, always knew she was good but has been taken aback by her progress.
“So I was pleasantly surprised when (she) made the London team,” he said. “We knew she was a good swimmer and she was working hard, but I didn’t realize how well she was going to do at trial.”
Brickelle said she has not encountered much discouragement growing up, and any she has endured has only served to fire her up.
“Swimming is just really relaxing for me,” she said. “I feel free.”
