Voices of Arizona is a special segment where we spotlight everyday Arizonans who help make our state an extraordinary place to live.
In this latest story, a Phoenix teen who recently broke several national para-swimming records sets her sights on the 2028 Paralympics.
Before most babies learn to crawl, Josie Dolan was already getting used to the pool. Her parents signed her up for the Hubbard Swim School as an infant, and from there to the Scottsdale Aquatic Club.
Josie has spent all 15 years of her life so far deepening her love for the water.
“In 2024, I didn’t really know if I wanted to go to the Paralympics, but I was invited to the Paralympic trials and that was a really big turning point. So I’ve sort of set a little goal in my mind to get to 2028," Josie said.
The champion competitive swimmer practices seven days a week — with private coaching on Sundays.
“Focus on technique in 2025. Right now I’m focusing on more endurance and speed. Next year, I want to focus a little bit more on technique, and my diving especially," Josie said.
With her disability, it’s not physically possible for Josie to jump. As a result, her dives can slow her down at the starting block.
“I have spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy, which means that half of my body is affected, the right side of my body," Josie said. "And I have muscle tightness and muscle spasms occur quite often. And it makes my muscles weaker on the right side of my body so it throws off my balance.”
Josie was not always a paraswimmer. For much of her childhood, she and her family did not even know she had a disability — Leigh Ann Dolan, Josie’s mom, just knew something was wrong.
“Josie’s diagnosis was considered pretty late," Leigh Ann said.
She said Josie walked a little later than other toddlers, she would fall down a lot, she would drop things, she would run only on her tip toes. They would bring it up every year at the pediatrician.
“And it was pretty much dismissed. Our concerns were dismissed," Leigh Ann said.
The family wasn't sent to a specialist until Josie was 9. But answers were delayed again. It was 2020, and the COVID pandemic had shut down the world.
“When you don’t know what’s going on and your kid is just falling over and very tipsy and they drop things with their right hand all the time, that’s scary," Leigh Ann said.
Once they learned what was happening, Leigh Ann said it became “pretty easy to deal with.”
“It’s fine, you could put her in the pool. You can’t fall out of the pool," Leigh Ann said. "You can’t trip in the pool. She’s not going to hurt herself because she’s not going to fall over. So I was so happy that she had been in the pool the entire time because that’s where she belongs. She can't hurt herself in the pool, she can just go fast."
But obstacles remained.
“She doesn’t know where her leg is in space at any time," Leigh Ann said. "So what was happening is she was getting disqualified a lot doing breast stroke because her leg didn’t work the way that other legs worked and so her kick wasn’t correct.”
Enter one of Josie’s coaches: Laurel Hill with Scottsdale Aquatic Club.
“She walks with a brace but she can’t flex her right foot, and you have to have a flexion in the breast stroke kick," Laurel said. "So it’s not an issue for butterfly, backstroke, or freestyle because your foot is pointed anyway.”
Laurel met Josie about a year after she was diagnosed. And that’s when Josie first heard that maybe she one day could be a Paralympian.
“I really feel like she’s on the path to 2028 and I would be so excited to be cheering her on, probably on TV because those tickets are wicked expensive," Laurel said.
Laurel worked with Josie on specifically her breast stroke for a year and half. First, trying to make the kick correct, then pivoting to show intent — which para-swimming rules allow.
“She has to show intent, or leg drag. So we are showing intent [of doing the correct kick in breast stroke] and that’s worked really well for Josie," Laurel said.
Her work has paid off. Josie’s officially broken three national para–swimming records this year, all in breaststroke. Leigh Ann says Josie has since broken two more "American records in long course 50 and 100 breaststroke. [But] they are unofficial until they are accepted by U.S. Paralympic swimming."
“It just moved up to my best stroke. And so if you told me that I would have broke[n] an American record in breast stroke like two years ago, I would have not believed you," Josie said.
Now, she says it’s just about continuing to get better, network, and hopefully find herself competing for gold in the LA 2028 Paralympic Games.
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