Joe Wise


Joe Wise was a member of the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team and is a 19-time American Record Holder. He competed for the United States at both the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Games held in London.
Wise swam for 10 years total, 7 years in Paralympic swimming.

Personal life

In 2002, at the age of 9, Joe Wise was diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy - a severe muscular disorder affecting his legs, hips, core muscles and lungs. At the early age of 9, doctors told him and his family he would not live to see the age of 15. In 8th grade, Joe was using a wheel chair, and having an extremely hard time walking. After doing a lot of leg exercises to strengthen his muscles, he was once again able to walk on his own. Joe now uses a life support volume ventilator every day which helps him breath because his lungs are so weak. Wise attended Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland from 2011-2015 where he was a member of the men's swimming team. On December 3, 2013, Wise announced that he retired from swimming due to health issues. Wise now resides in Austin, Texas and works at Dell.

Career