Ali Truwit ’23

Ali Truwit is an accomplished swimmer who won silver medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in the 400 Free (S10) and 100 Backstroke (S10) events.

As a Yale student, she finished in the top ten at Ivy League Championships across multiple events and qualified for nationals in 2020. Three days after graduating from Yale in 2023, Truwit was attacked by a shark while snorkeling in Turks and Caicos with friend and teammate Sophie Pilkinton ’19. Both swimmers survived, but Truwit lost her foot in the attack; she was medevaced to Miami, where doctors performed two surgeries. A week later in New York, Truwit underwent a partial leg amputation to allow her to wear a prosthetic in the future.

Truwit returned to swimming less than three months later, and she competed in the US Paralympic Swimming Trials, where she earned three gold medals. She qualified for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and competed for Team USA just over a year after the shark attack.

Following these life-changing events, Truwit founded Strongerthanyouthink.org, a nonprofit focused on supporting people who have lost limbs and working to save lives through water safety. She has also founded a baking business, Truwit’s Treats (@truwitstreats), and is working on both a book and documentary.

Truwit works as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company.