Photo/Illutration Mayumi Narita finishes her race in the women’s S5 50-meter backstroke final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 30 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. (Takaharu Yagi)

One last time, a Japanese Paralympian swimming superstar known as the “Queen of Water” glanced up to see her time. 

Although the result would not bring Mayumi Narita her 16th gold medal in her storied Paralympic career, she was still satisfied to have competed again at age 51. 

“I feel happy,” Narita said after finishing sixth in the women’s S5 50-meter backstroke final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 30.

For Narita, Tokyo is the sixth and final Paralympics she has competed in.

But things had not gone well for the veteran as she failed to advance to the finals in three events, including the 100-meter freestyle.

The race on Aug. 30, her final event in the Games, was a chance to prove herself one last time. And she did.

Narita made it through the qualifying round, placing eighth.

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Mayumi Narita starts in the women’s S5 50-meter backstroke final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 30. (Teruo Kashiyama)

In the finals, her time was 47.86, nearly two seconds faster than she posted at the 2004 Athens Paralympics at the age of 34.

Narita won a total of 15 gold medals at three successive Paralympics starting in 1996--Atlanta, Sidney and Athens.

After competing in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, she retired and became a board member of the Tokyo 2020 bidding committee.

Narita was in the exuberant delegation in Buenos Aires in 2013 when Tokyo’s wish to host the Games was granted.

The excitement motivated her to return to competition. Her return to the pool would help to promote the Paralympics, she thought.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Games, however, disrupted her plan.

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Mayumi Narita swims in the women’s S5 50-meter backstroke final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 30. (Hiroki Endo)

Sometimes she felt unsure if she could endure such grueling training for one more year.

But other times, she looked at the postponement positively, thinking, “It means I can swim for another year.”

When the pool was shut down due to the pandemic, Narita trained hard in a wheelchair weighted down with an iron dumbbell.

After the pool reopened, she had training sessions of swimming as much as 4,000 meters a day. Sometimes the training was so difficult that Narita cried.

Narita was a junior high school student when she became paralyzed from the waist down due to transverse myelitis.

At 17, she realized, “My legs will never recover.”

She started para swimming at the age of 23. The first time she swam, she felt the heaviness in her legs lifted.

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Mayumi Narita after her race in the women’s S5 50-meter backstroke final at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 30 (Takuya Isayama)

She sought a venue for training. But many swimming facilities rejected her citing her disabilities.

But the Yokohama Sakura Swimming School took her in, where she still trains today.

Preparing for her sixth Paralympics, Narita realized young talents have emerged in the para swimming world.

Miyuki Yamada, 14, one of the para swimmers whom Narita has given special attention to, won a silver medal in the women’s S2 100-meter backstroke on Aug. 25.

On Aug. 30, these young para swimmers gathered at the athletes’ village to send Narita off on her final race.

The sight made Narita ruminate about her long career and feel emotional.

“I have lived a life as an athlete, much better than I expected,” she said.

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