First Time Paralympians Series

Welcome to our new profile series highlighting Ontario's first time Olympic and Paralympic qualifiers who will be in Paris this summer.

Seeing is believing.

For Mary Jibb, reality has set in.

Ever since she was a youngster running around her home, located in the beauty and serenity of a part of Ontario known as Muskoka, Jibb has always made it known that a swimming pool is what makes her happy.

Not sure if the water she talks about is at the Bracebridge Sportsplex, the Canada Summit Centre pool in Huntsville, or travelling to the big city to go to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. Maybe, it’s all three – and even the lake water.

Jibb will soon add a new natatorium to her list. It’s situated in another country. The name is La Défense Arena, located in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. That’s because Jibb has qualified, as a first time Paralympian, to compete for Canada against the rest of the world at the 2024 Paralympic Games in France.

“It’s a huge thrill and I broke down crying when I found out,” said the 17-year-old Jibb. “I’m going to Paris to gain experience and with the goal of winning a medal for Canada. No matter the outcome, I know I will have done my best.”

Jibb made the Canadian roster after meeting the time standard at the Canadian Swim Trials last May in Toronto. Her time was one minute, 13.62 seconds in the S9 100-metre backstroke. It also knocked one half a second off her previous personal best.

“It feels very good, I put the work in and deserve it,” said Jibb, who graduates this year from Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School and will pursue a career in the trades, likely as an electrician.

Pardon the electrifying pun, but the sparks were flying when the authenticity of her selection to the team was formalized.

“I finished fourth in the final, had a feeling that, maybe, it just wasn’t good enough and I thought I wasn‘t going to make (the team),” said Jibb. “I was unsure, waited a day and didn’t want to get too excited. But that all changed when I received an email, and my coach congratulated me. I really believe that my hard work and experience really counted.”

What makes this story about Jibb so phenomenal is that at age five, she suffered a stroke while seated around a campfire with her family. The medical terminology was a “left basal ganglia stroke with focal vasculitis”. It left her with physical impairments to the right side of her body.

Rehabilitation, therapy and recovery times don’t happen overnight.

Add the words perseverance and determination to her vocabulary, along with the huge support from family, specialists and friends. Jibb would re-learn to walk. She received attention during two weeks at the Hospital for Sick Children and a few months at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. The stroke had also affected processing of reading and writing.

Things have improved. The filtering of information is now on competing with swimmers from around the world.

“I’m a very humble person and don’t really like all the attention,” said Jibb, who joined the Muskoka Aquatic Club at age eight. “I keep my head down, push hard, focus on what I have to do, and I enjoy doing.”

Jibb knows that good things can happen – and she’s experienced it in competitions in Canada, the United States and Portugal. For her, 2024 has already been magical – and the best may yet to come.

She may also need a new display case for her collection of swim awards.

At the Eastern Canadian Championships held in Quebec City, Jibb had a busy day at the medals podium. Trips to accept silver medals in the 100-metres freestyle, 100-metres backstroke, and 200-metres individual medley. There were also two bronze medals: in the 400-metres freestyle and the 50-metres freestyle. The last one posting a time of 29.86 seconds for a Canadian record.

In April, competing at the World Para Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, she made an impressive international debut winning three gold medals in the 50-metres freestyle, 100-metres backstroke and 200-metres individual medley Youth events and then added on a bronze medal in the Open SB9 100-metres breaststroke. She also set a Canadian record in the 50-metres butterfly race.

That same month, in Portugal at the European championships, Jibb made the final of the 200-metres individual medley clocked in a personal best time. Then, in Toronto at the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Trials, her dream came true.

She competed in six events, finished with personal best times in five races, won a silver medal in the 100-metres butterfly and, in the 50-metres freestyle beat her previous Canadian record time.

Call it a remarkable week at the pool.

“It’s a beautiful feeling knowing I’m going to Paris,” she said, at one time thinking that competing in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles was more realistic.

“Challenges come day to day, just like my body. I am just so appreciative to my family, my coaches and so many others for all they have done for me and the support that has impacted my life in a positive way.”

At the world showcase, set for August 28 to September 8, Jibb will compete in the S9 classification. All para swimmers are classed based on their level of ability and impairment. Swimmers with physical impairments compete in classes S1 to S10. Athletes with the highest functional ability, while still meeting the criteria to be eligible for para swimming, compete in the S10 classification while athletes with the lowest functional ability compete in the S1 classification. S11-13 include visual impairments and S14 involves athletes with intellectual impairments.

Several years ago, around the time the world pandemic caused chaos and so much more, Jibb wasn’t sure about her future in competitive swimming. Organizations were involved in some classification changes, there were misunderstandings and kerfuffle around the subject of the definition of impairments.

She had gone from S10 to S9. Jibb had been a huge success in S10 provincial and national competitions.

“I thought competing was over for me, you work so hard in one classification and then it changes,” she said, working tirelessly at achieving personal goals. “I was borderline twice on classifications, things were overlooked and eventually everything worked out.”

And now, the excitement continues. The thirst for competitiveness builds. Inspired by others, Jibb feels amazed having found something she is passionate about and hoping that her days ahead become easier and better.

David Grossman is a veteran multi award-winning Journalist and Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 50+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.