Paralympic Spotlight: Mark Barr

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 5. TODAY's Paralympic Spotlight features Mark Barr. Barr is an all-around athlete who has not only competed at a pair of Paralympic Games, but also swam at Cal Poly as a Division I athlete.

In 2004, Barr first competed at the Paralympic Games held in Athens. There, he finished fourth in both the 100-meter fly and 400-meter free. He returned in 2008 for the Paralympic Games in Beijing after setting an American record in the 100-meter fly in 2005. Unfortunately, Barr had to have his appendix removed while preparing for the Beijing Games. He still wound up swimming in six events at the meet.

"The one thing that I remember about both Athens and Beijing was the tremendous support from the host nations," Barr told Swimming World when asked about his Paralympic Games memories. "In both Games, we competed in front of sellout crowds. Your adrenaline really gets going when you are competing in front of 10 to 12 thousand cheering fans.

"Each of the Games had unique challenges for me, including lack of experience and health status," Barr continued. "In Athens, I was a rookie. I was new to the Paralympic scene, so I had no idea what kind of competition I was up against. In Beijing, I had health issues. I was recovering from an appendectomy that kept me out of the water for a month, and left me with just two months of training time leading into the Beijing Games."

Barr also competed at Cal Poly as a member of its swimming team. The chance to compete directly against able-bodied swimmers gave Barr an extra bit of motivation as he continued to train for the Paralympics.

"I was lucky enough to compete collegiately at the Division I level for four years," Barr said. "I am a very competitive person, so having the luxury of training with 40 other strong swimmers motivated me to train harder on a daily basis. Plus, there is no better feeling than touching the wall first against able-bodied swimmers when you only have one leg."

Barr had a leg amputated due to a bone cancer tumor when he was 14. The amputation was done above the knee. Having been an all-around athlete prior to his operation, Barr needed an athletic outlet while going through chemotherapy and was introduced to Paralympic swimming. Barr competes in the S9, SB8 and SM9 divisions. S1-S10 are physical classifications, while S11-S13 are for the visually impaired. Everyone is placed within these classifications through the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) functional classification system. This process is required in order to compete in an IPC approved/sanctioned meet.

Swimming World has dedicated the Paralympic Spotlight series on our site to the late Jimi Flowers. Flowers was the Paralympic head coach for the U.S. up until he passed away this summer.

"Jimi had a great impact on the Paralympic swimming movement," Barr said when asked about his memories of Flowers. "I had the pleasure of competing under him in Durban, South Africa at the Paralympic World Championships as well as Beijing, China. Jimi took a strong group of swimmers and raised the bar even higher, constantly challenging us to become better swimmers. My favorite quote about Jimi was ‘Jimi knew no stranger, and it was true, he made it his goal to get to know each and every person that he came across. He will never be forgotten."

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