BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WXYZ) — For most all her life, 16-year-old Ava Pruden has had an insatiable love of swimming.
"I do remember the first meet," she told us. " I wasn’t that good of a swimmer, I was 5, but it was a lot of fun."
Ava swims next to all the other athletes at meets, she looks exactly the same, but to her, the sport sounds a bit different.
When they're hearing the starter horn, or the cheer of their family members, she's hearing near silence.
"I was born hearing, I passed my newborn hearing test, then we came back at 2 months we found out my brother and I had hearing loss," explained Ava.
She said, "There’s so many people on a team, the coaches can’t watch over everyone at once, so it’s my job to be able to speak up for myself for what I need."
The sophomore in high school has done exactly that.
Her head swim coach at Seaholm High School, Karl Hodgson told us, "It’s remarkable, I’m in awe every day."
He said that since meeting Ava, she has continued to advocate for herself, asking written instructions, and to be added to early morning swim practices.
In regards to how Ava receives practice instructions, Hodgson said "Everything is written on the board, or I have paper sheets made up in front of each lane so they can read."
Ava's mom, Julianne Pruden, told us that when Ava first started swimming she couldn't hear the starter horn like her competitors, "and she would look at everybody else when they would jump off and then she would go."
In light of this, Julianne said that they've worked to add strobe lights to signify the start of races, for those who can't hear the horn.
"She’s never given up," said Julianne. "There are times when she’s frustrated and I say, 'don’t worry, keep going, keep swimming as they say.'"
Nearly 11 years of overcoming these obstacles has certainly paid off.
Recently Ava received news that she has been selected to be on the 2025 USA Deaflympics Swim Team.
"I’m feeling so excited, I’m feeling all the emotions, this feels like such a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Ava. "I’m just so excited to be traveling with other athletes who are just like me, deaf and hard of hearing."
The Deaflympics is this November in Tokyo, and it's self-funded, meaning Ava will need to raise the money to go.
No stranger to a challenge, the swimmer has started this GoFundMe to raise the money.
She said that this is her shot to compete against athletes just like her, her shot to inspire others who sports look, or sound, a little different to.
"You just have to keep going, you cannot give up if you really want something," said Ava.
