Isla Johnson brings home to Medicine Hat three gold medals from provincial swim meet. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

By Jayk Sterkenburg

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A nine year old girl from Medicine Hat with cerebral palsy took home three gold medals from a swim meet in Edmonton the weekend of Jan. 24-26.

Isla Johnson competed with the Medicine Hat Waves Swim Club, and was the fastest in her category at the Swim Alberta 2025 Winter Festival provincial swim meet.

Johnson has been swimming with the MHWSC for the past four years, and has practiced long and hard.

“It’s like climbing a ladder,” says Johnson. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

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“It’s like climbing a ladder, almost, where you gotta go up the stairs, up the stairs, to get to the very highest level,” she said.

The swim meet brought the fastest 12 and under swimmers in Alberta together for a series of races.

It was Johnson’s first festival she’s competed in.

The SAWF hosted para swimming events for the first time ever this year.

These categories accommodated athletes with disabilities to compete at the festival.

Sean Maxwell, head coach with the MHWSC, said that there is a lot of experience with adaptive sports in the city.

He encourages those who haven’t tried them to be open minded.

He said that Isla just loves to swim, and that it was all that she wanted.

“Isla was born with cerebral palsy. So that means that one side of her body is just not as strong as the other side at this point,” he said.

“She swims like a fish and works really hard. And she’s very coachable, very positive, and a fun-loving kid,” he added.

“We just love having her around, and she really likes to race.”

The Swim Alberta Winter Festival hosted para swimming events for the first time ever this year. Courtesy/Swim Alberta

Johnson said that she practiced hard for the swim meet.

“Practice here is like- you gotta just swim, swim, swim, to get the hang of that stroke,” she said.

“If you just do one lazy stroke, then you won’t get the hang of it, and you won’t accomplish this thing that you want to get up to.”

Johnson said that her disability only limits her sometimes.

“It limits me sometimes, but it doesn’t limit me other times.”

She said the pool is like a safe space, because there’s always someone looking out for you.

Isla’s mother, Tawny Johnson, said that the accessibility aspect of MHWSC has been amazing.

She said they’ve seen over the last several years how much accessibility has grown in the world.

She’s grateful to have seen Swim Alberta work to include her daughter in the meets.

“We recognize that her times are going to be different than an able-bodied child her age, but they’re able to modify things and still progress her along,” she said.

“It makes her so happy to have that opportunity, and to really be a part of a team, and part of a sport.”

Maxwell said that MHWSC is open to working with kids of all types who want to come in and swim.

He said para swimming includes everything from swimmers with an intellectual disability to swimmers who are amputees.

“These kids come in, and they work just as hard as everybody else, if not harder,” he said.

“They’re fully integrated into our program, and we just want to see them succeed.”

Maxwell said that, for the kids, the swim club will increase confidence, provide a means of feeling more free, and give them friends for life.