Erin Popovich

Three-time Paralympian

Erin Popovich is a three-time Paralympian and 19-time para swimming medalist, including 14 gold medals. A native from of Little Rock, Ark., Popovich attended Colorado State University, where she competitively raced against able-body athletes on the Rams swim team. At her first Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000, she won three gold medals and three silver medals, while setting four world records. Four years later at the Athens Games, Popovich won seven gold medals in seven races, including three world records and four Paralympic Games records. A two-time winner of the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability, she was also named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year in 2005. Now on the administrative side of Paralympic sport, Popovich, the associate director of Para Swimming Sport Operations for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, now runs para swimming events.