From ‘accidental athlete’ to a champion: Elizabeth Marks and her unstoppable journey

Since taking up swimming about 10 years ago, US Para swimmer Elizabeth Marks has gone from being what she calls an “accidental athlete” to a Paralympic champion as she continues her “mental and physical journey” in the sport.

At Tokyo 2020, she set a world record in the women’s 100m backstroke S6. As she listened to the US national anthem from atop the podium, tears filled her eyes. She was thinking about her journey and how she started in the sport.

“I was a mess,” Marks recalled with a laugh. “But emotions are good, right?”

“This journey has been a mental and physical journey in a positive way. I really always just aim to make the people that support me proud and whatever that might look like.”

Accidental athlete

Marks calls herself an “accidental athlete” - she had never planned to become an athlete, much less a Paralympic champion.

In 2010, she sustained injuries on her hips while serving in the US military in Iraq. She was 20 years old. She underwent three surgeries and while recovering at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, she took up swimming.

“For me personally, I needed something else to focus on. I needed somewhere else to direct my energy,” she said. “I was very upset but I didn’t always know where to channel that. 

“When I got in the pool and found out that I could channel it physically, it helped with my mental health as well.”

In 2012, her leg mobility and lung capacity decreased due to an illness. Two years later, she fell gravely ill ahead of her Invictus Games competition in 2014 and had to be put on life support.

But when she recovered, she went back to the pool. At the pool she felt happy and at peace.

“When I was going through recovery, when your world has changed drastically, it was nice to have something to change focus on and swimming became that focus for me,” the Paralympian said. 

“It was peaceful, it was quiet and the pain I experienced in the pool is the pain I create, which was important for my healing journey.”

Shock and tears

She returned to the Invictus Games in 2016, representing the USA and competing with her “brothers and sisters” in the tournament for ill, injured and wounded military members. 

“It was a full circle moment for me and it was healing. I got to show everyone that I was OK. So many people supported me when I was ill, and to get to physically show up and represent my country alongside them and prove to them that I was alright was a great experience.”

Her career then took off from there, being named to Team USA for Rio 2016, which took place the same year she competed at the Invictus Games.

“Competing at Invictus game me a boost of energy and purpose. We compete for our brothers and sisters who can no longer compete or maybe never got the opportunity for sport,” Marks said. 

“So carrying that through to the Paralympics gave me that extra boost to want to just give it my all.”

In the Brazilian city, Marks captured two medals - a gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7 and a bronze in the women’s 4x100m medley 34pts.

But Marks says that it was not easy to compete for the first time on the biggest stage for Para athletes. She said it was a culture shock because all the athletes there were “exceptional” and credits her “military family” with supporting her campaign.

Five years later, she took to the pool at Tokyo 2020, where she won three medals, including the gold medal in the 100m backstroke S6. Marks says that competing at two Paralympic Games has changed her life.

“Getting to meet so many different people from different areas of the world and see how similar we all are as opposed to how different we all are was very life changing,” she said. “We all are just people at the end of the day."

Happy place

With less than a year to go until Paris 2024, Marks, now 33 years old, is preparing for her third Paralympic Games. She trains in the pool once a day, six days a week.

“The pool is my happy place. It’s very easy to want to be in the pool because it brings me so much joy,” Marks said. “So I’ve been enjoying training. That’s it.”

And do athletes ever get used to competing at the Paralympics? After two Games, Marks still feels she is new. 

“I still feel like a novice. Some people are just a little bit more talented at being professional athletes. I show up and I’m excited to play in water,” the athlete said. “Luckily, I have teammates on Team USA who are much more seasoned than I am and helped me navigate it.

“I just hope that I can be a support system to our new athletes and we can celebrate sport together and have a great time.”