Lawrence Sapp looked anxiously into the camera of his Zoom call.
The moment he was waiting for had been a long time coming. The moment he'd dreamt of since he first hit the pool with a summer swim club in 2005. The moment that would prove every team who failed to recognize his talent along the way wrong.
The moment he was deemed more than good enough, he was approaching great.
His muted microphone covered up the beat of his racing heart. His mother stood behind him with her phone ready to record the reaction of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic hopeful’s fate.
The moment was nothing like what the family may have imagined. Sapp had expected to see his first Paralympics in 2020 with his family cheering from the stands until COVID-19 put his long-awaited dream on hold.
At the same time, despite the virtual setting and empty stands at the Paralympic Trials in Minneapolis, the moment Sapp was named to the United States Paralympic swimming roster was everything the 19-year-old could have imagined.
The University of Cincinnati student said he expected to make the team after breaking three American records at the trials.
“I was happy and excited. This will be my first time at the Paralympic Games,” Sapp said.
Dee Sapp, who recorded her son’s reaction from the corner of the room said the announcement was personal and quietly boisterous. Still, it spoke volumes about the perseverance and achievements of Lawrence Sapp.
Diving in
Lawrence grew up in Waldorf, Maryland, with his mother, father and two siblings. When Lawrence was 2, Dee said she noticed he wasn't reaching the "benchmarks" his older sister had at the same age.
Initially, Dee didn’t think much of it. Peers reminded her about the differences in development between males and females and they told her not to stress.
She was not that kind of mom.
“With my personality type, I do everything by the book, so I decided to have him evaluated,” Dee said. “It came back that he was developmentally delayed, but not with walking or eating, he could do all of those things, but mostly with his speech.”
It wasn’t until later in Lawrence’s development he received an official diagnosis of autism and an intellectual impairment.
As Dee said, Lawrence “isn’t really your typical anything.” That includes his diagnosis. Physically, Lawrence can do many things a “typical” developmental disability would not allow for.
When Lawrence was 4, Dee and her husband searched for a sport their son could participate in. They were looking for an activity that didn’t require much communication between teammates. That summer, Lawrence started swimming at a club near his home.
“I was on doggie paddle and I swam a little sloppy and a little slow and then I became faster and faster,” Sapp said of his first memories in the pool. “Then I became super fast like right now. Sometimes I have bad races and sometimes I have good races. It’s just back and forth.”
For Lawrence, it’s always how to be faster. Even as he remembered his first moments in the pool, moments when his world champion potential had yet to be developed, a look of disappointment wiped across his face.
“He’s so intense,” Dee said with a smile. “This is his thing. He is hyper-focused. Like his coach and I say, 'Your disability only means that you’re not able to do some things but it’s also a benefit in other areas.'”
Studies bear that out, showing repeatedly that individuals with autism have an increased ability to focus on certain tasks.
For some, that could be mathematics or art. For Lawrence, it has always been sport.
“Even if he comes in first place, if he’s added time, he’s not happy, he’s his worst critic," said Dee. "Everybody is congratulating him and he’s like ‘Oh, that was horrible,’ and he means it. He takes swimming very, very seriously. It’s not a hobby, it’s not just something to do, it’s his thing.”
In 2013, Lawrence joined the seven-time, top-ranked Nation’s Capital Swim Club, or NCAP. During his freshman year of high school, he broke five school swim records. It was at this time Lawrence's potential in the sport became hard to ignore.
At NCAP, Lawrence trains with Jeff King, a coach with more than 40 years of experience.
“I’ve done all of the things that you can do in coaching and it’s been wonderful but when Lawrence came into our program five years ago it was an area of swimming that I had never really explored," King said.
King described Lawrence as a "role model" for the world of para-swimming. King said once Lawrence joined the club, athletes and coaches who had never followed para-swimming before began following it intensely.
Lawrence echoed King's claim, saying he hopes to teach others just how skilled para-swimmers can be if given the platform.
But finding that platform isn't always easy. Dee said there have been many times, many teams and many people who have underestimated Lawrence and his ability. That is not the case at NCAP.
“They treat Lawrence the same way that they treat all the others,” Dee said. “That’s what inclusion looks like."
Although swimming is competitively individual, Lawrence described his teammates at NCAP and at Team USA as "a family." Through their support, Lawrence has competed in Australia, Singapore, London, Mexico City and, very soon, Tokyo.
Lawrence graduated from high school in 2020 and he just finished his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati. At UC, Lawrence competes on the club swim team with the hope to join the varsity roster in the future.
Preparation begins
Some dreams almost don't happen.
When Dee first received a letter from the Paralympic Training Center in 2015, she threw it in the garbage. “This has got to be junk mail,” Dee thought.
Several weeks later, the Paralympic Training Center sent another letter, and this time the request was too obvious to ignore: Would Lawrence swim for us?
Yes, he would.
Lawrence swam in his first meet with the Paralympic team in Indianapolis in 2016. It came quickly, and without much preparation. Dee remembered talking with fellow spectators at the meet who raved about Lawrence's ability. Meanwhile, she was still trying to understand how her son got here and where his potential could lead him.
“I can’t even say there was a day when it clicked, it’s always just been back and forth to the pool,” Dee said. “Everybody else tells you how grown your kids are and how great they are but every day they still look like babies. When I see him in the water doing his best, it’s the same as when he was 5 or 6. I feel like the process is still the same.”
But when Lawrence hits the pool, he feels different. This is where Lawrence thrives. He said despite the muscle aches and soreness his body feels physically during races, his mind is at ease. He has a single goal: Go fast.
Lawrence competes in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter freestyle.
At the Paralympic Trials, Lawrence set three American records for the S14 class. In the 100-meter butterfly, Lawrence clocked in at 56.10 seconds, with his 50-meter split of 26.15 seconds also setting a record. His final time landed just 6.65 seconds over Caeleb Dressel's 49.45 world record.
In the 200-meter individual medley, Lawrence finished with a 2:17.44 time, just 23.44 seconds above Ryan Lochte's world record of 1:54.00.
Both Paralympic records were ones he had already held (100-meter butterfly 56.96, 200-meter individual medley 2:20.06.)
“The trials went good I had two best times I was really happy with that," Lawrence said. "My splits are good...and I was happy with my times.”
Still, his overarching goal is more than decorated accomplishments.
“My goal as an athlete is to give good sportsmanship," Lawrence said.
The Tokyo Paralympics will take place from Aug. 24 until Sept. 5. King will not travel with Lawrence to the Games but said he always trained Lawrence to be able to compete without him there.
“In every sense of the word, he typifies what an Olympian is and all of these athletes do," King said. "They really take away any excuse you might ever have thought you had when it comes to training and competing at a significant level. It’s amazing.”
Lawrence is now in Tokyo but before he went, he said what he is most excited for is to see everything the event will have to offer.
“To see the whole thing,” Lawrence said. “I’m going to take a lot of videos and pictures.”
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