When 20-year-old Anastasia Pagonis is swimming laps in preparation for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris where she’ll represent Team USA, her guide dog Radar quietly lays by the edge of the pool.  

While Radar isn’t in the water with Pagonis, the golden lab is a key teammate in her quest for another gold medal. 

“Radar helps me with everything,” Pagonis said. “When I was first going through my vision loss, it was really hard for me because I felt like I had no sense of independence. I had to literally hold my mom’s hand to do everything, and I felt like I was a burden to my family. Then I got Radar, and I was able to do everything by myself and get that sense of independence back.”

Pagonis lost her vision at age 14 to Stargardt’s disease, a genetic disorder that causes macular degeneration. At 16, she was the first recipient of the Islanders Puppy with a Purpose program, where a guide dog, trained by the Guide Dog Foundation, was paired with her to adjust to her new circumstances. She developed a strong sense of resilience and gratitude for the day-to-day tasks she was able to complete on her own with Radar by her side.

“Everyone that has a disability knows that even having a little bit of independence goes such a long way,” Pagonis said. “I’m just so blessed and so thankful for like everything that I get to do on a daily basis.”

@nyislanders

Sparky is NOT a swimmer. Before heading to Paris, Anastasia Pagonis tried to teach Sparky how to dive and it did not end well… @Guide Dog Foundation @NHL #hockeyfansoftiktok #newyorkislanders #mascots #paralympics

♬ original sound – New York Islanders

Pagonis made the powerful decision not to let her visual impairments stop her from leading an extraordinary life. Pagonis set the 400-meter freestyle world record at the Paralympic trials in 2020, beat her own record in the finals and took home the gold medal for Team USA in the Tokyo Paralympics. She’s also a three-time World Champion, winning gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and the 200-meter individual medley in 2022 in Madeira. 

“When I first lost my vision, I thought that it was closing so many doors for me, but in reality, it has opened even more,” Pagonis said.

The Long Island native is excited to represent her country again this summer. During the 2020 Games, the precautions taken because of the pandemic limited her experience, so she’s looking forward to the full experience in Paris in August. 

“I’m beyond excited,” Pagonis said. “This will be my second Paralympic Games, but I’m a rookie at heart. I feel like in a way it’s kind of my first because Tokyo was during the pandemic, and we couldn’t leave the village. I’m excited to be able to experience Paris. It’ll be really exciting, and I’ll be able to have my family and a crowd which is really special.” 

“I’m so excited to hopefully win some more gold medals for my whole support system,” Pagonis added. 

Pagonis competes in the S11 category, where the eyesight of each individual athlete can vary from near to total blindness, so they wear completely blacked out goggles during races. A tapper at the end of the pool signals when they’re approaching the wall and assists their performance. 

“There are different Paralympic classifications in swimming, S11 is the most severely visually impaired and then S13 is the least severely visually impaired,” Pagonis explained. “We all wear completely blacked out goggles, which makes the playing field fair.”

Pagonis’ story is riddled with setbacks and challenges, but her comebacks and resilience shines through even stronger. The 20-year-old athlete dealt with shoulder surgery and recovery a year before this year’s Games, but her determination is unwavering.  

“Training has been really intense and trying to find the sweet spot of training super hard for the biggest competition of my life, while finding the best way for me to train without re-injuring myself,” Pagonis said. “And it’s all about hurdles. There are hurdles always in the journey, and you just have to overcome them.” 

Pagonis uses her large platform on social media to share her story and inspire others from all walks of life. Pagonis creates educational and informative content, all while inspiring large audiences on TikTok and Instagram.  

“A real goal of mine is to break down the stereotypes that people have on people with disabilities,” Pagonis said. “I want to show the world that I can be a professional athlete, I can do my own makeup and dress cute. I can be up on the top of the podium at the Paralympics. There’s something that’s so powerful about that.” 

“I started my online platforms as a way of therapy, expressing my feelings and then people started gravitating to it and relating to it,” she continued. “I’m showing the world that this is what a disability looks like, and this is what I can do with it.” 

Through it all, Pagonis had the support of family, friends and a yellow lab by her side. The athlete was paired with Radar four years ago through the Puppy with a Purpose program, so the two have had a wonderful journey where the special pup made an impact on her personally and as an elite swimmer.  

“The first week that me and Radar met each other, I feel like we had this crazy special bond and it just keeps growing every single day,” Pagonis said. “It’s so amazing that the Islanders are able to do something like this and support people like me. Radar has changed my life in so many more ways than anyone could imagine.”