In the first grade, Marina was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called Stargardt Disease. This disorder causes a buildup of vitamin A in the macula and causes irreversible damage to the eye’s photoreceptors, which results in a growing blind spot in the central point of vision.

Although Marina had been living with vision loss for the majority of her life, she has never let it hold her back from achieving her goals. In 2023, she competed in her first half Ironman as the youngest female competitor. Two years later, she went on to win the Physically Challenged category of her first full Ironman. Now she is pursuing sprint distance Paratriathlon and has made her way onto the USA Junior/U23 Development Team.

For each race Marina competes in, she uses a guide on the swim, bike, and run. Marina and her guide are tethered together on the swim and run, and cycle using a tandem bike. She’s now pursuing Paratriathlon head-on with Andrew Stasinos as her coach, but the only caveat is she doesn’t have a bike!