When Silverspring School first opened, Shelby Newkirk was a kindergarten student smiling for a photo taken to mark the occasion.
Now she’s getting her own spot on the wall after setting a world record in the pool.
READ MORE: Saskatoon para-swimmer Shelby Newkirk sets backstroke world record
The Saskatoon Lasers swimmer recently returned to the school to share her story with students and staff.
During her visit she was presented with a new photo, this one of herself wearing Team Canada colours in the pool, sporting the same smile she had in kindergarten.
“I haven’t been able to have a chance to come back here … it’s just so nice being back where I’m from and being able to see everybody,” she said.
Newkirk lives with a condition known as dystonia, which leaves her without the use of her right leg. She took up para-swimming a few years ago and over the past 12 months she’s become one of Canada’s rising stars.
The 21-year-old holds seven Canadian records and at the recent Para-Swimming Canadian Open in Toronto, set a new world record in the S7 100-metre backstroke.
“I didn’t even know it until I looked up and was congratulated by people before I even knew what happened, so I’m just still trying to process it all,” she said.
Newkirk also competed in the 2017 Canada Summer Games, winning six medals and being chosen as Saskatchewan’s flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
READ MORE: Paraswimmer chosen as Sask.’s flagbearer for Canada Games closing ceremony
Her accomplishments led Petro-Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee to award her a $10,000 Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence (FACE) grant, which is given to an athlete and their coach deemed to have great potential to represent the country at Olympic and Paralympic Games.
She had a simple but powerful message to share with the students at Silverspring.
“Whatever life throws at you, you can get over it and with hard work and perseverance anything’s really possible and the sky’s the limit.”
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