Pain is a daily part of Cederholm’s life.

“Sometimes I don’t think she realizes how much pain she’s in because it’s her normal,” said her mother, Katie Cederholm.

Katie Cederholm wasn’t able to stay in the athlete’s village with her daughter in Santiago but knew she was in good hands with her coaches and teammates looking after her. After Chloe accidentally lost her brand-new phone — a birthday present — on the bus coming home from the Opening Ceremony, they made sure she could use their phones to stay in touch with her mom and relayed important emails and other team information.

“You could tell how well they treated her because, as cheesy as it sounds, she was glowing when I saw her,” said Katie Cederholm, who was at all of her daughter’s races in Santiago. “She just looked so happy and so confident. It was an amazing gift as a mom to know that your barely-turned 13-year-old was as happy and as well taken care of as she was.”

In mid-December, Cederholm raced at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships in Orlando, Florida, and set an American record with her gold-medal performance in the women’s 200-meter backstroke S10.

Her recent achievements haven’t come without hard work and frustration the past few months. Leading up to Santiago, she said, she’d been working harder than ever to be as prepared as possible, but not seeing corresponding drops in time.

But she also read about how Swift prepared for the Eras Tour by singing her setlist while running and walking on a treadmill for three hours, behind the scenes.

“I learned that success definitely takes some time, and it’s not just going to come,” said Cederholm, who, like her idol, also enjoys writing song lyrics. “Your mom’s not going to serve it for dinner. You have to work for it. And just know that you can’t give up because if you give up you’ll never know what would have happened.

"That’s what gets me up in the morning or gets me to go to practice, is just knowing that what if I never tried to get further than I am? I would never know. It would be too late. So I make sure I’m doing everything I can to reach my goals and be happy with myself.”

A Swift Rise Has Para Swimmer Chloe Cederholm Dreaming Big Things, While Inspired By A Certain Pop Star

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