The air carried that familiar mix of chlorine and humidity, the kind that settles into your skin and lingers long after you’ve left. Voices echoed off tiled walls – instructions, splashes, the low hum of parents half-watching from the pool deck.
Justin Marafioti was among them, his attention drifting between the water and his daughter as the afternoon unfolded exactly as it always did. Nothing felt out of the ordinary – until a familiar face caught his eye.
It wasn’t a moment that announced itself, just a brief recognition in an otherwise forgettable afternoon.
They had first met years earlier in rehabilitation, two men navigating life after similar workplace injuries, learning in their own ways what it meant to rebuild. Then, as life tends to do, it pulled them in different directions – into work, family, routine – until, unexpectedly, those paths crossed again.
The familiar face was Jed Altschwager, a Paralympic gold medallist who had recently stepped into a new role leading the South Australian Sports Institute’s (SASI’s) Para Unit, helping shape pathways that hadn’t existed in quite the same way when they first met.
“I’d just started the role,” Altschwager said. “And then this big, strong bloke walks in – someone I already knew – and I’m thinking, surely we can find you something.”
What followed didn’t feel like a turning point, just a conversation between two old mates, catching up on life, fatherhood, training, and everything in between.
For Marafioti, sport had always been a constant – strength, discipline, routine. Then came the workplace accident, reshaping life as he knew it.
He will never forget the date: 19 May 2015.
“I was hit by a forklift at work,” he said. “The impact completely crushed my lower left leg, and it ultimately resulted in a below-knee amputation. It was sudden, traumatic – I was 25-years-oldat the time.”
In the immediate aftermath, the focus wasn’t reflection – only survival and direction.
“What I remember most clearly was thinking about how to move forward and make the most of a terrible situation,” he said. “I knew self-pity wouldn’t build the life I wanted. And I kept thinking – this isn’t the life my wife signed up for.”
At first, the scale of what had changed was difficult to fully comprehend.
“Pretty quickly, I realised things would never be the same,” he said. “But the bigger shift came later – when I realised different doesn’t mean worse. It just means you need to adapt.”
The recovery carried both physical and mental weight in different ways.
“The early stages were the hardest physically – pain, healing, learning movement again,” he said. “But mentally, it was the uncertainty. Wondering what life would look like, how I would provide for my family, whether I could still be the man I wanted to be.”
“There were a lot of bad days,” he said. “Frustration, anger, self-doubt. That mental battle was heavier than the physical one.”
At that point, elite Para sport wasn’t on his radar.
“Honestly, I was just focused on getting through each day.”
But something familiar kept drawing him back.
“Returning to the gym the first time was emotional,” he said. “It had been part of my life for years before the accident. Walking back in meant more than exercise – it was a statement that I was still here, still capable. It gave me purpose again.”
When asked what he would say to himself in those early rehab days, his answer is immediate.
“I would tell him this pain will turn into strength,” he said. “Stay patient. Keep showing up. The life ahead will still hold success, pride, and meaning.”
At the time, the meeting at the pool was just a conversation – its significance only became clear in hindsight.
Altschwager saw it immediately: not something to build, but something already built.
“You don’t get too many people like that walking through the door,” he said. “He’d spent years in the gym – there was a base you don’t often see.”
Around them, the system had evolved too, largely thanks to the Para System Uplift – a coordinated effort between national and state high performance sport. The pathway at SASI had become more connected, more responsive. Classification, coaching, and access to high performance environments were no longer separate steps, but part of a system designed to meet athletes where they were.
“It gave us a real example early,” he said. “How do we get someone like Justin in the door, under the bar, into the system? And once we worked through that, it moved quickly.”
As Marafioti’s progression accelerated, support from Para Powerlifting Australia became a key part of his journey, with national coach Simon Bergner helping guide his transition into elite Para sport.
Classification brought clarity, coaching followed, training shifted from individual effort to structured performance, and within weeks he was under the bar at SASI; within months competing nationally, and soon after, internationally.
“It all happened pretty quickly,” Marafioti said. “But I knew I had to keep improving- you still have to earn it.”
“That progression is rare,” Altschwager said. “There’s a lot to learn beyond lifting — competition, preparation, recovery — and he had to take that on quickly.”
Still, the foundation held.
“It was exciting, but also humbling,” Marafioti said. “You realise pretty quickly there’s a big difference between training in a gym and performing in that environment.”
Even as sport accelerated, life did not slow, with Marafioti balancing full-time work with training, alongside raising two young children.
“Honestly, a big reason it works is my wife,” he said. “She carries a lot for our family, and what I’m doing is definitely a shared effort.”
Over time, something else shifted too – identity – as he moved from someone testing himself in the gym to someone operating within international competition.
“Once I started competing internationally and performing at that level, it became real,” he said. “That’s when the mindset changed.”
Now, training is less about discovery, more about refinement – strength built over years, shaped into performance through consistency and control.
“Right now it’s about building strength, refining technique, staying healthy, and putting together consistent training blocks.”
What once felt deeply uncertain, now feels increasingly within reach, with possibilities like LA 2028 beginning to emerge on the horizon.
In Adelaide this month, as the Para Powerlifting Australia Grand Prix arrives at SASI, Marafioti will be there – not competing, but far from absent.
“It still means a lot to be involved,” he said. “If my story helps bring attention to the sport or inspires someone to give it a go, that matters.”
For those coming through, he sees something familiar.
“The hunger and excitement, I still feel close to that,” he said. “It shows how quickly things can move when you get the right support and back yourself.”
And still, the story traces back to that afternoon at the pool – not because it explains everything that followed, but because it helped align what was already there: experience, timing, opportunity, and a system finally able to respond.
For Altschwager, that carries personal weight as well as professional insight – both men rebuilt after similar injuries, and both understand what it takes to begin again.
“It’s a special one,” he said. “We’ve shared similar experiences, and now I get to see him take this opportunity and make the most of it.”
For Marafioti, the reflection is direct.
“How much life can change,” he said, “and that tough moments don’t have to define where you end up,” he said. “You just keep moving forward and sometimes, things fall into place when you least expect it.”
Some stories begin with a decision, others begin at a swimming pool, in the middle of an ordinary afternoon, when timing – or something close to it – does its work.
By Ashley Gillespie, Paralympics Australia.
Published 13 May, 2026.
