McClain Hermes is a legally blind 15-year-old girl from Dacula who already runs a successful nonprofit and holds 10 American swimming records.
Now she's hoping to make a splash at the Paralympic Games.
Hermes, who attends school through Gwinnett Online Campus, was named to her first-ever U.S. Paralympic swimming team over the weekend, following qualifying in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is one of 14 newcomers that will take to the pools in Brazil this September.
"I think that I am still in shock...," she wrote on Instagram on Monday, "but I am going to Rio!!!"
According to her website, Hermes is completely blind in her right eye and has extremely limited vision in her left. She swam for the U.S. in last year's ParaPan American games and took home a bronze medal.
In 2009, she and father Matt started a nonprofit called Shoes for the Souls. The nonprofit has donated more than 15,000 pairs of shoes to local homeless shelters.
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