CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – When you ask Braxton Wong about his journey to get to this point, even he’s surprised.
“I don’t even know how this happened. It all just doesn’t seem real,” said the 18-year-old swimmer from Clovis.
That’s because Wong has a great chance to make the U.S. Paralympic team.
“Yes, it’s very special,” Wong said. “Not many people get this opportunity and I feel very blessed.”
“(Braxton) is a big contender and is probably the favorite to win,” said Mark Bennett, Wong’s head coach at the Clovis Swim Club.
A strong showing at the U.S. Paralympic Trials, which begin Thursday in Minneapolis, would see Braxton compete for the United States in Paris in late August.
“He’s one of the fastest para athletes in the world,” Bennett said.
Wong was born in China with a shorter right leg that eventually had to be amputated.
A family in Clovis adopted him from an orphanage when he was four years old into a home full of children.
“My mother gave birth to four biological children and then adopted eight more,” Braxton says.
And after enduring numerous foot-related surgeries, Braxton eventually followed in the footsteps of her siblings and took up gymnastics, then swimming and other activities.
“I always wanted to do anything athletic, like swimming or sports,” Wong said.
He really found his groove in the pool.
He was the national paraathlete champion in the 200-meter butterfly and placed fourth at the 2023 Parapan American Games. He will compete in his category in Santiago, Chile in November.
“He’s a tremendous athlete, a tremendous character and a tremendous person,” Bennett said.
Who has a real chance not only to make the Paralympic team in Paris this year, or Los Angeles in 2028, but ultimately bring home a medal and show others that it is possible to pursue your dreams no matter what?
“No matter what obstacles you have, just do your best and play whatever sport you’ve always wanted to do,” summed up Wong, who will begin swimming at California Baptist University in the fall, “and maybe you’ll make the Paralympic team.”
