Name: Erin Popovich
Event(s): 50-meter Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle, 50 Butterfly, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Individual Medley, 4x50 Freestyle Relay, 4x100 Medley Relay
DOB: 6/29/1985
Birthplace: Little Rock, Ark.
Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.
Paralympic Experience
- Three-time Paralympian (2000, 2004, 2008); 19-time Paralympic medalist (14 golds, 5 silvers)
- Sydney 2000, gold (100-meter freestyle, 50 butterfly, 100 breaststroke), silver (4x50 freestyle 20 pts., 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle)
- Athens 2004: gold (4x100 medley 34 pts., 4x100 freestyle 34 pts., 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 50 butterfly, 100 breaststroke)
- Beijing 2008, gold (200 individual medley, 400 freestyle, 100 freestyle, S100 breaststroke), silver (50m freestyle, 50m butterfly)
Personal:
Interested in sports at an early age including horse-back riding, soccer and basketball…Moved to Butte, Montana when she was five…Joined swimming team when she was 12…Born with achondroplasia…During childhood wore braces to straighten back and legs…Received Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University where she swm as a varsity athlete…Named “Swimmer of the Year with a Disability” by Swimming World Magazine, Individual Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation, and was ESPY Award winner for Best Female Athlete with a Disability in 200