Swimsuit

How Brenna Huckaby Balances Being a Mom and a Paralympic Snowboarder

The 2018 SI Swimsuit model shares two daughters with her husband, Tristan Clegg.

Ananya Panchal

Brenna Huckaby.

Brenna Huckaby.

Brenna Huckaby made history in 2018 as the first Paralympic athlete to be featured in the SI Swimsuit Issue. The professional snowboarder was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, which led to the amputation of her right leg above the knee when she was 14-years-old. Snowboarding became part of her rehabilitation practice and she fell in love with the sport almost immediately.

Huckaby, who shares two young daughters, Lilah and Sloan, with husband Tristan Clegg, has been growing her brand as a life coach recently.

Like most parents—especially those of younger kids—Huckaby knows that no two days are the same and you have to be prepared for anything. The trick is to “get creative.” She plans her training around her children’s schedule and is adamant about nourishing her body and recovering so she can save her energy to spend time with her girls when they are home.

“It can be really easy to feel defeated being a working parent when things aren’t going smoothly, which seems to be most of the time,” she candidly explains. “So I make sure I show myself grace for what I can accomplish, understand not everything that needs to be done will be done immediately, and also remind myself that I am trying my best and my best is enough.”

The 27-year-old fought for her right to compete in the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games last year after being eliminated from the event’s LL1 classification in which she typically competes. Huckaby ended up joining a more difficult classification, where she was the only above-the-knee amputee woman on the track. She took home the bronze medal.

Huckaby is raising her daughters to be brave and encourages all other young parents to do the same. She says bravery isn’t just about being afraid, it’s about being afraid but being able to do it anyway. She still challenges herself to be brave every day, and has been growing her platform to advocate for inclusion and raise awareness for people with disabilities.

“I remind myself that even though I am standing up for myself, in doing so I am also standing up for others,” she says. “We are all connected, and when one of us speaks out or has a winning moment, we are all impacted. What we do and say matters, even if it’s not always immediately recognizable how. You matter and your voice matters.”

Huckaby, who has been open about her experience with mental illness, is a certified life coach. When she first became a mom to daughter Lilah in 2016, everything changed in the best way possible. She says she made it a priority not to shift her life, goals and future around her daughter, but instead just take her little girl along for the ride.

“[I wanted to] show her what is possible in this life when you follow your dreams, no matter how difficult they get,” she explains. “Everything I do is for my daughters someday, and the older they get, the more I see the benefits of that.”

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Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When she is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, Panchal can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast. Panchal has a bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Boston University.