(NEXSTAR) – Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill said he has had to overcome biases as someone who lives with what he called an “invisible disability.”
“I’m one of the few people whose disability is not obvious to the eye, so obviously I’ve faced a lot of biases, a lot of challenges in that space,” Hill said.
The 29-year-old from Inglewood, California will compete in the 100-meter Freestyle, 100-meter Backstroke, and 50-meter Freestyle in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
At a young age, Hill struggled with some basic movements and was hospitalized for a few weeks after becoming paralyzed from the flu. When he was 23, his parents told him he had a condition known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. It’s a neurological condition that affects the muscles in his arms and legs.
“In day-to-day life, my goal a lot of times has been to just blend in,” Hill said.
Hill competed in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo where he earned a bronze medal in the 50-meter Freestyle.
Hill has a goal of teaching one million people how to swim through his foundation, Swim Up Hill.
