Day twenty nine of NOVA’s graduating senior posts features Olivia Welsh. Olivia has been on the team for two years. She has loved being a part of the team and knows getting up early and preserving through hard practices will serve her well. #onenova #graduation #seniorseason #proud (fb)

NOVA was honored to have Olympian Joey Peppersack visit during the last @sportablerva session and sign the Wall of Fame at Regency! Joey was born with a rare birth defect known as “Tibial Hemimelia,” which resulted in a short tibia on his left leg and the amputation of his right leg. With the encouragement of his first swim instructor, Joey began competitively swimming when he was 9 years old in Hopewell, VA. After 2 years of learning fundamentals, he participated in his first Para-swim meet. From there, he swam for VACS, which eventually merged with NOVA (shoutout Coach Lauren and @novasouthswim !) and also collegiately at the University of Mary Washington. Thank you Joey for your time and awesome energy!! ♥️💙 Joey’s Accomplishments: - 3 x medalist at the 2017 Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany 🌎🏅🏅🏅 - American Record Holder in the 100-yard IM and 200-yard Freestyle 🇺🇸 🏆 - Silver medalist in 100 Backstroke at the 2019 Lima Para-Pan American Games🥈 - 2 x National Champion at 2017 US Para Swimming Nationals Finalist at the 2016 Rio Paralympic trials 🥇🇺🇸🥇 - USA National team member from 2015 – 2022 🇺🇸 - 7th place in the 100 Back at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games 🇺🇸 🔥 - First amputee in RVA to get lifeguard certified ⛑️ - Dog dad 🐾 ♥️ #onenova #olympian #teamusa #paralympics #sportable #novastrong #usaswimming #hometownhero #elevate (fb)