I have always been an active girl even though I have a limb disability. My disability has never stopped me, even when I was a child – I was always jumping everywhere, running and climbing trees.
Growing up, my mom was a single mother. During the summer, she couldn’t take care of me, so she took me to a summer camp. There, I started swimming when I was five years old and fell in love with it.
Although I had a lot of fun swimming and was always able to clear my head while I was in the water, I never expected I would compete in the Paralympics. To me, swimming was just something I did for fun.
Dora’s professional swimming career
I started training at the Mexican Paralympic Center and had my professional debut in 2000.
The first time I competed in the Games was in 2000 in Sydney. There, I won two golds, one silver and a bronze and broke one world record. I competed in the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, freestyle relay and medley relay.
Four years later, in Athens, I won three golds, one silver and one bronze. I also broke three world records and competed in the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, individual medley, freestyle relay and medley relay.
Following the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, I had earned the largest number of medals of any Mexican Paralympic athlete, with five gold, three silver and three bronze.
I went to five Paralympic Games throughout my career, won 11 medals and broke a lot of records. I even won the Mexican Sports Award in 2004. I finished my swimming career in 2017.
Dora’s career at Schneider
