Page 4 - 2020 Winter CMTA Report

SWIMMING UPHILL WITH

JAMAL HILL

BY CLARK SEMMES

JAMAL HILL is currently the #1 ranked
Paralympic swimmer in the United States in
the 50-meter freestyle, but athletic achievement
did not come easily to the California native.

He struggled for years with
the secret of his CMT1X
and says that only when he
stopped treating it like a curse
did the “blessings and oppor-
tunities start flowing.”
Born in the Los Angeles
neighborhood of Inglewood,
Jamal started swimming at the
age of 7, before his CMT
became symptomatic. At the
age of 10, he dislocated his
shoulder, which was so damaged Post high-school, Jamal
that doctors considered amputating earned a small athletic scholarship
the arm. That was followed by a to Hiram College, a Division III
bout of flu that left him paralyzed school in Ohio. His coach was a
for a short time, able only to speak 70-year-old Midwesterner, Jamal
and nod. His family assumed his was a young black kid from Los
swimming days were over. Angeles and the two were unable
Although Hill eventually to bridge the gap between them.
regained his mobility, his parents Jamal performed so poorly his
and other family members decided junior year that he decided to look
to keep quiet about his CMT, not elsewhere for a coach.
wanting to alter his perception of He found Dave Salo at the
what was within his reach. His University of Southern California
parents acknowledged his CMT, (USC). He called Dave in Febru-
but didn’t allow him to use it as an ary of his junior year and said he
excuse or a crutch. was leaving Hiram to swim at
Jamal eventually recovered USC. Jamal returned to California
and got back into swimming his and joined the USC swim team—
sophomore year at Junipero Serra the Trojan Elite.
High School in Gardena, Califor- After a year without much
nia. During his sophomore and improvement in his swim times,
junior years, he only swam three Jamal decided he needed a per-
months per year and did not excel. sonal coach. He found mental
In the fall of his senior year, he performance coach and swim con-
joined a club team and trained sultant Wilma Wong through
really hard, earning a first place in another swimmer. She quickly
his division. noticed that Jamal’s dives needed

4 THE CMTA REPORT WINTER 2020