Susquehanna University swimmer Toni Davis admits she hated the sport when she was younger. Her parents, however, didn't give her much choice but to participate.

And now, ironically, the sport Davis started out detesting so much has produced a unique opportunity for her to shine on the international sports stage.

Davis, who was born without the lower portion of her left arm (down to just before the elbow), is Athens-bound as one of 4,000 athletes representing 140 countries set to compete in the 2004 Paralympic Games.

The largest sporting event in the world for persons with disabilities, the 12th annual Paralympic Games will include 19 sports -- 14 of which are equivalent to those featured in the Olympics and four that are exclusive to paralympic sports. The Games kick off September 17 and run through September 28.

Davis began swimming the summer before she entered the eighth grade.

"My parents had my brother in swimming and they thought he was doing pretty well so they decided to put me in it," she said.

In spite of her disability, she said the strokes weren't difficult for her to learn.

"I went to the pool and I would imitate what I would see people do, which is what I did with everything," she said.

One of the reasons she disliked the sport so much was because she wasn't doing as well as she wanted. Once Davis hit high school, in fact, she came close to exchanging her swim cap and goggles for a pair of track cleats. But Dave Sellers, Davis' ninth-grade computer teacher who also happened to be the swim coach, intervened.

"He said I could come and try out and if I liked it, I liked it. If I didn't, I didn't," Davis said. "I ended up going to practices and I liked the team. I talked to a couple of team members and I stuck with it for those four years."

Davis' first year at Susquehanna was a rocky one. She struggled to balance athletics and academic demands and ended up quitting the team.

"I wasn't doing too well with my grades," she said. "I was there for an education. I had to get that in line first."

By her sophomore year, Davis had established a rhythm. She returned to the team and became a key member of the Crusaders squad over the next three seasons, competing in freestyle and butterfly events.

Head coach Ged Schweikert described Davis, who also swam as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay at this year's Middle Atlantic Conference championships, as one of the team's cheerleaders.

"She's just a neat person. As an athlete, she's always working hard. She's highly motivated. She's a team player," he said. "I think she's had a positive impact on the team morale and work ethic. One thing that is sort of neat to watch is the effect she has on other teams -- they just can't believe it."

All of the hard work has paid off for Davis, who is assisted financially by the Challenged Athletes Foundation. She is the American record-holder in the 50- and 100-meter butterflys and the 400-meter individual medley in her class. In addition, Davis captured wins in the 50- and the 100-meter butterflys at the USA Swimming Disability Championships in 2003. Through 2002, she was ranked in the top 10 in the world for the 100-meter butterfly.

Such lofty achievements aside, Davis said one of her goals was to compete in Greece. In January, she made the National Paralympic Team. In late April, Davis' second-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Paralympic Trails at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, earned her a pass to Athens.

To date, she names that achievement as the one of which she's most proud.

"I'm proud of making the team to go to Greece," she said. "There are smaller ones, too, like finishing the 200-yard butterfly. That's really hard. It shows how much strength you have."

Although initially surprised by how good an athlete Davis was, Schweikert said he's no longer surprised by anything his star swimmer does.

"I've been in this long enough to know that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to if you are willing to work. She is willing to work," he said.

Understandably, Davis' complete focus is on preparing for the upcoming Paralympic Games. Beyond that, she's undecided about what role swimming will play in her future.

"I might think about working with disability swimming somehow," she said.

Davis graduated from Susquehanna in May with a bachelor of science degree in psychology and plans to attend graduate school at the University of Scranton.