Disability Pride Month: Honoring 5 Important Paralympic Swimming Athletes From the Past

To celebrate Disability Pride Month (July), we are celebrating Paralympic swimming history by highlighting the career achievements of five important Paralympic athletes.

Trischa Zorn

Trischa Zorn is the most-decorated Paralympic athlete of all-time with a career total of 55 medals (41 gold, 9 silver, 5 bronze) over seven Games. She was born with aniridia, an eye condition that inhibits the development of the eye. Zorn competed for the United States within the S12, SB12 and SM12 categories.

She also impacted collegiate swimming, as she paved future pathways for visually impaired athletes as the first visually impaired athlete to earn a NCAA Division I scholarship, to the University of Nebraska. She was also nominated for the Sports Illustrated Woman of the Year Award in 1988, named to the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2012 and chosen as the Closing Ceremony U.S. flag bearer at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. Outside of the pool, she has taught special education. Zorn currently works as a legal professional for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Beatrice Hess

Beatrice Hess won 20 gold and five silver medals while competing for France at the Paralympic Games. She also broke nine world records alone at the 2000 Sydney Games. Hess was born with a mild form of cerebral palsy. She came to swimming for “pleasure and liberty,” starting at the age of 15.

Michael Edgson

Michael Edgson set nine world records and won 18 gold medals while competing for Canada in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Paralympics. Being the most decorated Para athlete in Canadian history, Edgson competed in the B3 category for athletes with visual impairment. Post-retirement, Edgson continued to support Paralympic athletes by becoming the finance director for the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

Natalie du Toit

Natalie du Toit has made strides both within Paralympic and Olympic swimming. Her Para career spanned the 2004 to 2012 Games, where she collected 13 Paralympic gold medals. Representing South Africa, she was the first amputee to compete in an international, non-disabled swimming competition by qualifying for the 2002 Commonwealth games. She also competed in the 10K 2008 Olympic open water race, becoming the first amputee to qualify for the Olympics. She has been lauded for helping remove barriers between Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Erin Popovich

Erin Popovich earned 14 Paralympic gold medals from the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games. She set multiple world records while competing for the United States, earned the first ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability and has been named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year. Born with achondroplasia, she competed in the S7 classification. Her achievements helped inspire and bolster Paralympic swimming into the mainstream.

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