"Hi, I’m Sydney Blackhurst, founder of Beyond Barriers Swim. This program exists because I know what it feels like to be written off as “too complex” to help.

Before my health struggles began, swimming was my entire world. As an Arizona state record holder, a multiple-time state champion, and nationally ranked in the breaststroke. I was on track for a future in collegiate swimming, possibly even beyond.

Then everything changed. During my sophomore year of high school, I started experiencing extreme fatigue. At first, it was brushed off. But as the months passed, things escalated: I became weaker, constantly nauseous, migraines, dizzy, and in constant pain all over my body.

Over the next year, I saw over 15 different doctors and underwent countless tests—cardiac, neurological, gastrointestinal—you name it, some extremely painful. I had hundreds of vials of blood taken, anything to try to figure out what was wrong. Despite all that, I kept getting worse. I was eventually diagnosed with hyperadrenergic POTS, Neuropathy, Von Willebrand’s disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, GERD, CAEBV, and more. 

By the summer before my senior year, I no longer recognized myself. I had lost over 30% of my body’s muscle weight, my strength, and the ability to do basic things like open a water bottle or hold a conversation.  I slept over 18 hours a day, because I didn’t have any energy, if I did muster the strength to go out, I would be stuck in bed for days recovering. At one point I was even put on heart failure medication, and what felt like weeks away from needing a feeding tube and a wheelchair. Every doctor I saw said the same thing: there was nothing more they could do.  They would just offer palliative care options for symptoms. To say I hit rock bottom, is an understatement. My life had been completely taken away from me, and there were some really really dark days.

But my family and I refused to give up. Through lots of faith, a multitude of vitamins, some medication, desire, and sheer determination, I slowly started rebuilding my life. One thing I was determined to do again was compete in swimming.

Getting back into the water wasn’t easy—it was a slow, exhausting process—but swimming became a form of therapy for me. Combined with the right care, support, and relentless perseverance, I became almost entirely asymptomatic. Today, I’m a Division 1 athlete and in many respects, a medical outlier.

My journey is why I founded Beyond Barriers Swim: to make sure others facing complex challenges aren’t left behind. Everyone deserves the chance to move, to heal, and to be believed in."