Mei Ichinose: A look at the swimming paralympian’s inspiring journey

When she was 17, Mei gave a speech at a high school public speaking contest, stating “Disability is a product of society.” Then, she shared the prejudices and discrimination that she had experienced. From there on, she worked to eliminate the difficulties of living in this society. Here’s an exclusive look at the path she took before deciding to retire and a quick glance at where she’s now.

Two and a half years ago, you moved your home base to Australia, but you returned to Japan a few days ago. What about your long-awaited home, Kyoto?

I wanted to chill in Kamogawa as soon as I could, so I was really excited to be back. But coming back to Japan this time, I realized that home isn’t a place, it’s the people. It isn’t what you do and where. In the end, it’s who you do it with. It really sunk in that I was back when I saw my family and friends.

What does family mean for you, Mei?

Since my parents got divorced, I lived just with my mother. If she scolded me, or we got in a fight, I didn’t feel like myself – even in competitions. But when we were getting along everything was great fun. My family is a big part of my life. 

Did you start swimming because of your mother?

When I was one and a half, my mom took me to a disability sports center near my house. The pool was free for people with disabilities and their families. Participating in various parent-child swimming classes and after-school swimming lessons helped me learn four different swimming techniques. 

At the time, a member of the facility’s staff happened to be the director of the Japanese para-swimming team. That person told me all about the Paralympics, and since then, I dreamed of swimming on the Paralympic stage.

What was your mother’s reaction to your retirement?

She said, “That’s totally okay.” My mom once gave up on her sports dreams, so she supported me in my dream because she didn’t want me to feel like she did. Still, when I said, "I don’t think I can do this anymore. I want to quit," she respected my feelings and empathized with me. I was relieved and happy at the same time.

You’ve had a competitive life, participating in the Rio Paralympics in 2016 and setting a new record in Japan with the 100 m butterfly in 2019. How do you feel about your retirement?

I’m currently learning how to rest. When I was competing, I put all my energy into practice in the morning, so no matter how long I spent doing nothing after that, I didn’t feel guilty. That’s not the case now.

I’ve been stuck in the mindset of "always wanting to move forward, always wanting to grow" since my early days, and now my mind is whirling with thoughts of what I “should” be doing. Even though I’m supposed to be taking it easy, I’m really tired, so since I retired, I’ve been training myself to be okay with doing nothing.

While playing an active role as a frontline para-athlete, there are many people who have been influenced by your statements about social prejudice and discrimination. How do you think discrimination against people with disabilities in Japan is changing?

It’s only been a little while since I returned to Japan, so I can’t say too much about it, but there are many things that I feel have improved. With the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, the media exposure of para-athletes has increased. Athletes have been sponsored, and the awareness of "para-" has risen dramatically. Also, I hear from my colleagues that the out-of-pocket cost for tours and championships has been reduced.

What do you mean by out-of-pocket?

When para-athletes enter tournaments, they need to go through the international "Para-athletics classification," which groups together levels of physical ability, like what arm length you can compete with and so on. When I started swimming, it cost me about 400,000 yen to go for a week. I also had to bear the cost of about 250,000 yen to participate in the Japanese Championships. It’s not easy for para-athletes to keep playing sports, but the situation is improving little by little.

Do you still feel discrimination against para-athletes?

There are still cases now where children with disabilities are denied admission to swimming schools. I had the same experience when I started working towards the Paralympics, so it’s a real shame that it hasn’t changed yet.

No matter how hard para-athletes work or get featured in the media, the next-generation of athletes won’t emerge unless something changes. In order to change how people perceive those with disabilities and eliminate discrimination, I’ve been working to reach the masses by getting to a higher level of athleticism and appearing in the media. If you don’t get results in something or become famous, nobody will listen to you.

Still, even if every athlete becomes popular, there’s a high chance that when they retire their voices won’t be heard anymore. I think the next important step is to see how much systemic change we can make so that it’s sustainable.

Mei Ichinose

Born in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan with a congenital deficiency of the lower right arm, Mei started swimming at one and a half years old. In 2010 she became the youngest athlete in history to take part in the Asian Championship at 13 years old, winning the silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle (physical impairment classification S9). Mei competed in eight events at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and currently holds the Japanese record for seven events. She retired from active competition in October 2021, and now continues to work to eliminate discrimination for persons with disabilities.