Miriam Blanco

Meet Miriam, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of one. She was later re-diagnosed with a rare genetic disease, hereditary spastic paraplegia type 3a, when she was 27. She had always walked with an atypical gait, but it unexpectedly became harder to move throughout her adolescence. Miriam felt lucky growing up with four sisters who all played sports; it motivated her to stay active when movement became much more difficult.

“Truthfully, I think my goals were to be more like everybody else, rather than finding and building on my own unique strengths—something I experienced when I entered the world of adaptive sports in 2021.” -Miriam

Miriam’s first Angel City Sports event was the virtual Angel City Games that took place mid-pandemic. In 2021, she joined a swim clinic via Zoom led by Paralympian Tom Miazga, going through dryland exercises to prepare for when pools opened again.

For Miriam, “access to sports through Angel City means everyone gets a chance to find physical activity where they can learn and develop new skills, feel strong, and be a part of a community of people working hard and having fun. Among so many other great reasons, sports teach you how to work with your body. That’s more challenging for a disabled person, either due to the nature of their disability or societal obstacles, or both, which is why I think it’s all the more necessary.

I often feel like I’m the only one, which discouraged me from physical activities in the past. It’s literally part of ACS programs, figuring out how you can perform your best with your disability. Everyone wants everyone to succeed and there isn’t an ounce of doubt that that is possible at Angel City Sports.”

The adaptive swim clinic at the Angel City Games summer 2022 was the first time Miriam had ever worked with a swim coach and she attributes that experience to truly changing her life.

And now, a goal of Miriam’s is to make it to the U.S. Paralympic Swimming National Championships at the end of 2025.