Alumnus Wins Bronze Medal in Paris Paralympics
BY ANNMARIE CORNEJO
Paralympian wins bronze
I hope that my performance
will inspire the next
generation of amputees
to get into the sport of
triathlon and continue to
raise the bar."— Mark Barr (Nutrition, ’09)
Paralympian athlete Mark Barr (Nutrition, ’09) has long embodied perseverance, from surviving an aggressive bone cancer as a teenager to winning his first medal in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France.
The years of hard work and dedication were evident in his smile as he stood at the podium at the Paris Paralympics, holding a bronze medal after competing for Team USA in the men’s paratriathlon. It is his first medal after competing in swimming at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
Barr, 38, a certified nurse anesthetist in Houston, Texas, was a member of the Cal Poly swimming team from 2004-08, an experience he holds close. “My college experience at Cal Poly as a student-athlete was incredible,” Barr said. “I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to compete on a Division I men’s swim team as a disabled athlete. That experience was very challenging, but even more rewarding.”
When Barr was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at the age of 14, his life quickly became a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments, surgeries, chemotherapy treatments and recovery. “I relied on maintaining a positive attitude and strong family support to get through the cancer treatments,” Barr said. “It was a year of chemotherapy, amputation and lung surgery that was exhausting both mentally and physically not only for me, but also for my parents.”
Not long after, he returned to his love of swimming as a path forward. “I have been swimming since I was four years old and I am extremely lucky to have had a background in swimming prior to losing my leg to cancer because swimming is the one sport where you do not need a prosthesis and can just take your leg off and jump in,” Barr said. It quickly became an integral part of recovery, providing both physical and mental rehabilitation after the amputation of his leg.
Barr’s experience with cancer also set him on a path toward becoming a nurse — graduating from Cal Poly to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing and later work as an ICU nurse for more than seven years. He recently earned a third degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to become a certified nurse anesthetist. “I thought for the longest time that I would never want to set foot in the hospital again. However, as time went on, I realized that it would be a very rewarding career to pursue the chance to give back to the profession from which I had benefited so much,” he said.
Barr said that while competing in the Paris Paralympics, a race he started training for in 2022, he focused on the sacrifices he made in training prior to the race as a motivation to keep pushing forward during the race. Bronze medal in hand, he plans to take a year’s break to spend time with his wife and 11-month-old son, Luke. “I hope that my performance will inspire the next generation of amputees to get into the sport of triathlon and continue to raise the bar,” he said.
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