Julia Gaffney

Julia Kay Gaffney (born May 1, 2000) is an American Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and had her right leg with amputated above the knee and her left leg amputated below the knee due to fibular hemimelia when she was born.

Gaffney was brought up in a Russian orphanage before being adopted by an American family from Arkansas when she was five years old.

Sporting career
Gaffney wanted to play softball but due to her disability circumstances she found it too difficult, she was then encouraged to take swimming lessons and started competing in 2014. Her first international debut in competitive swimming was in California at the World Para Swimming World Series, she met her idol Jessica Long and Paralympic swimming coach Queenie Nichols who both inspired and influenced her to continue her swimming efforts.

At the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City, Gaffney won her first medals in the pool: five silver medals. In London, two years later at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, Gaffney became a world champion in the women's 200m individual medley SM7 where she was 0.02 seconds ahead of the defending champion Tess Routliffe and Mallory Weggemann.

On April 14, 2022, Gaffney was named to the roster to represent the United States at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships. On April 29, 2023, Gaffney was named to the roster to represent the United States at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships.