IGNITING Change: Finding Joy Again Through Para Sport

Trinity Lowthian spent her childhood dreaming of the Olympics and standing on podiums in her favourite sports, biathlon, triathlons, cross-country and water polo. In 2018, her health deteriorated, and her life changed when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that compromised her autonomic nervous system.

In May 2022, after regaining her strength, Lowthian joined the Ottawa Fencing Club as a Para athlete. Her introduction to Para fencing marked the beginning of a remarkable journey. This is her story…

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting the Paralympic Foundation of Canada (PFC). Your generosity and commitment to supporting Para sport across Canada means so much to athletes like me and opens up so many opportunities for the next generation of Canadians in sport.

I competed in wheelchair fencing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where I finished 5th – Canada’s best result in wheelchair fencing at the Games. If you went back in time and told 16-year-old me what my future in sport held, I would not have believed you for a second. My love for the Olympics started at a young age. When I turned eight years old, my birthday party was Olympic themed and this wasn’t the last of my Olympic themed birthdays, they became a recurring theme. I was a sports obsessed kid, involved in triathlons, biathlon, and water polo.

Things changed once I started high school. While my peers were spending these formative years discovering their identities, forming relationships and developing their independence, I had a different high school experience, spending over 200 nights in the children’s hospital. My body was failing me and as my condition was progressing. I had dropped out of sports and was completing my classes from the school at the hospital. My life as I knew it had changed forever.

Once I turned 18 and transitioned to the adult hospital, the doctors got a better handle on my condition, and I started treatments. While they certainly weren’t without complications, I slowly started to rebuild strength and wanted to get back into sports. Since I now had an eligible impairment to compete in Para sport, I did my research and decided that wheelchair fencing sounded like fun. I reached out to the Ottawa Fencing Club and became their first wheelchair fencer in May 2022.

By October 2022 I was ready to compete and without any opportunities in Canada, I headed off to Brazil with my coach for the Americas Zonal Championship. There, I won 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals and finally felt like myself again. My smile wasn’t faked anymore and the sparkle in my eyes returned after being gone for so long. My love for Para sport was ignited!

My coaches and I were confident that I could make it to the Paralympics, but there were first some substantial barriers to getting there. Firstly, funding; to train, travel and compete requires a lot of money.

As a university student, this was money that I did not have. Another barrier was the lack of other wheelchair fencers in Canada. I was training with able-bodied fencers who sat down to fence me, however unlike myself and my competitors, they had abs and moved in ways that didn’t mimic my opponents. I needed training partners, and more than that, I wanted others to have the opportunity to be introduced to this tactical sport that I had found so much joy in.

To tackle this barrier, the Paralympic Sport Development Fund came into play. I applied to this grant supported by the Paralympic Foundation of Canada because I wanted to develop wheelchair fencing in Canada and introduce others to the sport that changed my life.

In 2023, the Ottawa Fencing Club received one of 18 grants! Thanks to donors like you, this grant allowed my fencing club to pursue coach training opportunities in Europe and get much needed equipment (including 3 fencing training chairs and 1 training platform). With this grant, I have been able to introduce wheelchair fencing to a larger community and see firsthand how Para sport changes lives as each participant gains confidence and skills that go beyond the piste. I can happily say because of this grant, five wheelchair fencers are now actively training in Ottawa and experiencing the power of Para sport alongside many more new Para fencers across the country. This equipment, coaching skills and new training partners led me to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics!

Experiencing the Paralympic Games in Paris with my friends and family in the stands was the highlight of my life. I can say with extreme certainty that those days were the happiest I had ever been. When an interview that I had with the Canadian Paralympic Committee circulated on social media, one of my good friends told me that she had never seen me so happy before. The smile on my face was put there because of donors like you.

While I can’t predict the future and am not sure what my future in sport will hold, I am sure of one thing: the best is yet to come. 

 Your support has gotten me further than I could have ever imagined myself and allowed me to give back to the next generation of athletes. All of your support goes so far and truly means so much. Without it, I don’t know where I would be today, and your continued support means that more Canadians can achieve their dreams and inspire further generations.

Your donations IGNITE athletes of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities to reach beyond their full potential and achieve their own greatness. We are all Team Canada and with you on our team, we are unstoppable.
Thank you isn’t enough but for now it will have to do. Thank you.

Trinity Lowthian
Paralympian | Wheelchair Fencer | Proud Canadian