When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived last year, Ahalya Lettenberger's lifelong dream was put on hold.
The Rice swimmer, in the middle of her freshman year, had designs on competing in the Paralympic Games that summer. A veteran of international competition — most recently representing the United States at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, where she swam in five events, reached the finals in four and claimed a silver medal — Lettenberger's plans were suddenly in flux after students were sent home for the semester.
"That was super hard because the one thing that had given me a sense of normalcy — swimming — was gone," she said, adding that "not knowing when or if the games were going to happen took a big toll on me."
Unable to train in the usual ways because pools near her home in Glyn Ellyn, Illinois, were closed, she had to get creative.
"During the summer, I was just trying to find any way possible to stay in shape, including biking, using my racing wheelchair and doing workouts in my house," said Letttenberger, who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), a muscular/skeletal disorder that affects her hips and legs. "One of my friends even let me use his backyard pool, so I tied a bungee cord and swam in place."
That determination prepared her for when she could return to campus and rejoin her Owl teammates in the pool last fall. Almost a year later, she's set to swim the 400-meter freestyle in the S7 classification at the Paralympics thanks to her performances at the U.S. trials in June and the Para Swimming World Series in April. She leaves Aug. 14, with the games beginning Aug. 24 and her competition set for Aug. 28-29.
"When I made the team, I was just so happy and thankful," she said. "After the postponement of the games in 2020, I was just so excited to get a chance to race at trials, and when I found out I made the team, I was just so overjoyed and overwhelmed with happiness, especially after everything that has happened over the past year.
"I was able to be surrounded by my family when the team was announced, so it was extra special to be able to celebrate with them because I definitely wouldn't have made it here without them," she added. "I was also just overcome with gratitude for all the support I've had from my family, teammates and coaches."
Lettenberger, who competed in four meets for the Owls this past season, said being able to train with her Rice teammates again "was what I looked forward to every day." Her coach, Seth Huston, said his tight-knit squad shares in the excitement of her achievement.
“I know that I really enjoy how her teammates embraced her when she arrived at Rice two years ago and how they have become such a great group of friends and support group for Ahalya and each other,” Huston said. "All of us — coaches and teammates — are very proud of her and excited to see how she does.”
Lettenberger expects her past international experience to serve her well in Tokyo.
"I had never raced on that big of a world stage before (the world championships), and being able to experience the nerves and excitement that come with that was super valuable," she said.
After the Paralympics, Lettenberger is looking forward to a return to normalcy at Rice.
"Last year with COVID, we weren't able to have a normal campus experience, so I'm just looking forward to the simple things like eating meals with our whole team, hanging out in the dorms, going to in-person classes and going to all the events on campus," she said.
