Tonight, the 2016 Paralympics will open in Rio, and one young athlete, a sophomore at Gwinnett Online Campus (GOC), will have a crowd cheering for her in Brazil and here at home. As the youngest member of Team USA, McClain Hermes will compete in three swimming events at the international competition. Legally blind, McClain is scheduled to compete in the 100-meter breaststroke, the 100-meter backstroke, and the 400-meter freestyle. Preliminaries for these events start Sunday, Sept. 11. Finals are set for Sept. 14. McClain holds a number of American records in the S12 (vision) class, and is ranked #1 in the U.S. in her class and #15 in the world. In addition to her swimming and her schoolwork, McClain is an active philanthropist. She and her father founded Shoes for Souls in 2009, and have collected more than 15,000 pairs of shoes for the Atlanta Mission. Learn more about this amazing young athlete in the GOC newsletter and on her website.
