Eighth grader Lila Heskin is a club swimmer who competes, and wins.

Heskin said her mother, Anne Heskin (left), as well as her father and brother, have cheered her on through every surgery and every swim.

The swimmer paused at the side of the pool, caught her breath and eyeballed her time. As her teammates gathered to celebrate their shared victory, Lila Heskin, an eighth grader at McAuliffe International School, pulled herself out of the pool. Before she stood for a round of hugs, Lila attached her prosthetic leg.

Lila is a competitive club swimmer who competes, and wins. When she was 8 years old, her right leg was amputated below the knee due to complications from fibular hemimelia, a congenital condition in which part or all of the calf bone is missing. “It was bone on bone, and she was in constant pain,” recalled Anne Heskin, Lila’s mother.

Today, Lila “is a powerhouse in the pool,” said Angie Peluse, owner of Lila’s club swim team, Colorado Blue. But it was not until sixth grade that Lila began to swim competitively. “She wasn’t much of an athlete before surgery,” due to her health challenges, Anne said. Recovery took time, and Lila spent much of the early 2020s hanging out with Peluse’s daughter, Cameron Delaney, in a Covid pod. So when Peluse said she was starting Colorado Blue in 2022 and promised Delaney would swim too, Lila suited up.

“The water is relaxing, and it’s fun,” said Lila, who lives in Central Park. “I’m always trying to improve my stroke or my times, but it isn’t necessarily about getting first.” Lila reminds herself, “You can’t compare yourself to people who aren’t in the same situation as you.” She doesn’t swim with her prosthetic “because that would be like swimming with your shoe on,” she said with a laugh. “It weighs you down.”

Last summer, when Lila’s swim times qualified her for the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Nationals, she faced a fresh challenge: Most of her para competitors were older and seemingly stronger, drawing on years of experience in the water. Nonetheless, Lila landed silver in the one-mile women’s swim and gold in the 400-meter individual medley, an event that features four strokes and requires intense stamina and flexibility.

When not in a para competition, Lila acknowledged that sometimes people stare when she removes her prosthetic before a race. “I’ve gotten used to it and don’t really notice any-more,” she said. The better moments are when members of other teams congratulate her after a swim. “I’m just glad I can be out there, swimming,” Lila said. “There are a lot of people who’ve had to go through much harder things.”

Lila’s head coach, Gavin Ross, said Lila’s “very strong mind and pain threshold” are foundational to her success. She has “confidence in her abilities” without seeing her disability as an obstacle, he said, and is “humble and fun.”

These days, Lila has set her sights on a new goal: The 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. She practices most mornings or after school. “I try to be very dedicated,” she said. Ross and Lila have created a 30-month plan to increase the quantity and quality of her practices and to build her strengths technically and conditionally. “We also have a 7-, 11-, and possibly even a 15-year plan for young Lila,” he said.

Out of the pool, Lila has skipped a grade in math and pushes herself as a highly gifted and talented student at McAuliffe. Her friend Delaney said, “Lila inspires me because she always is really motivated and cares a lot.”

Peluse and Delaney have no doubt that Lila will achieve her dreams in Los Angeles. Said Peluse, “Lila has this ‘I’m going to do it,’ no-holds-barred attitude.”

Front Porch photos by Christie Gosch