Rebecca Meyers

Last updated

Rebecca Meyers
Paralympian Becca Meyers - 51336792266 (cropped).jpg
Meyers during a visit to the Maryland State House in July 2021
Personal information
NicknameBecca
Born (1994-11-20) November 20, 1994 (age 29)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Website Meyers on teamusa.org
Sport
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  USA
Sport Paralympic swimming
Disability class S12
Club Nation's Capital Swim Club
Medal record
Women's Swimming
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Event1st2nd3rd
Paralympic Games 321
Deaflympics 001
Total322
Paralympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle S13
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m butterfly S13
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 200 m medley SM13
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 London 200 m medley SM13
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m freestyle S13
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2012 London 100 m freestyle S13
Deaflympics
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2009 Taipei 4×200m freestyle relay

Rebecca Meyers (born November 20, 1994) [1] is an American Paralympic swimmer. [2] She won three gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016. She was also a member of the 2012 Paralympic Team, and won a silver and bronze in London. [3] Rebecca Meyers has also competed at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Taiwan, which is also her only appearance at the Deaflympics. [4] [5] She also clinched a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay event in the 2009 Summer Deaflympics. [6]

Contents

Biography

Meyers has Usher syndrome and has been deaf since she was born. [7] Since she was young she has used a cochlear implant, an electronic device that allows her to hear. [8] Meyers is also losing her vision to a disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and has a Seeing Eye dog named Birdie, who helps her navigate the world. [9]

In 2015 and 2017, Meyers received a Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award. [10] She won gold in record time at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. [11]

She grew up in Baltimore, attended Notre Dame Prep and went on to graduate from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where she studied history with a concentration in Disability Studies. She was a club swimmer with Loyola Blakefield Aquatics for eleven years. In 2012, she joined North Baltimore Aquatic Club where Michael Phelps trained. Becca then switched to Nation's Capital Swim Club located in Bethesda, MD, where she trains under Bruce Gemmell, Katie Ledecky's coach. [12] She holds multiple world records in the S13 and S12 classes.

In June 2021 the US announced the 34 Paralympic swimmers who would be going to the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. The women's team was Meyers, Jessica Long, McKenzie Coan, Elizabeth Marks and Mallory Weggemann. [13] On July 20, 2021, Meyers withdrew from the Paralympics after being denied her request for a personal care assistant due to reduced allocation of staff members amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [14]

International

2019: London, England World Para Swimming Championships

[15]

2017: Mexico City, Mexico World Para Swimming Championships

[16]

2015: Glasgow, Scotland IPC Swimming World Championships

2014: Pasadena, California Pan Pac Para-Swimming Championships

2013: Montreal, Canada IPC Swimming World Championships

2011: Coimbra, Portugal 3rd World Deaf Swimming Championships

2009 Deaflympics Taipei, Taiwan

Awards and honors

2017:

2016:

2015:

2011

See also

Related Research Articles

Terence Mike Parkin is a swimmer from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 200m Breaststroke. Parkin, who is deaf, also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, as well as the Deaflympics in which he took home 29 gold medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Long</span> Russian-American Paralympic swimmer

Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winning 29 medals. She has won over 50 world championship medals.

Erin Popovich is a three-time United States Paralympic swimmer. She has won 14 career Paralympic gold medals, and 19 total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teigan Van Roosmalen</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer (born 1991)

Teigan Van Roosmalen is an Australian Paralympic S13 swimmer. She has Usher Syndrome type 1 legally blind and Profoundly deaf. She had a swimming scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport 2009-2012. Her events are the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m individual medley, 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She competed at the 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Edmonton, where she won a gold medal in the S13 400 freestyle event. She competed at the 2008 Summer and 2012 Summer Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosuke Hagino</span> Japanese swimmer (born 1994)

Kosuke Hagino is a Japanese former competitive swimmer who specialized in the individual medley and 200 m freestyle. He is a four-time Olympic medalist, most notably winning gold in the 400 m individual medley at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danylo Chufarov</span> Ukrainian Paralympic swimmer

Danylo Chufarov is a Ukrainian paralympic swimmer competing mainly in category S13 events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Millward</span> British Paralympic swimmer (born 1981)

Stephanie Millward is a British Paralympic swimmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniela Schulte</span> German Paralympic swimmer

Daniela Schulte is a German Paralympic swimmer, competing in the S11 class. Having developed a genetically caused visual impairment aged nine, Schulte began to compete in swimming for competitors with a disability at the age of 13. A year later Schulte participated in the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, winning gold medals with both the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays B1-3 as well as two silver medals in the 100m freestyle and 200m individual medley B1 events. At the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Schulte was able to add a silver medal in the 100m freestyle S11 to her tally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Guy (swimmer)</span> British swimmer (born 1995)

James George Guy is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in freestyle and butterfly. Guy has won multiple gold medals at each of the major international meets available to him, including for Great Britain at the Olympic Games (3), the World (5) and European Championships (7), and for England in the Commonwealth Games (2). In addition to further medals in those events, he has also reached the podium at both the World and European short-course championships. With 46 major medals at international championship meets, 20 at global level, he is one of the most decorated swimmers in British history.

Tharon Drake is an American Paralympic swimmer.

Tucker Dupree is an American swimmer. He won three medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games and one at the 2016 Paralympic Games. He has also set multiple world and American records in swimming. He competes in the Paralympic classes S12/SB12/SM12.

Chelsey Gotell is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer and 12-time medalist. She has oculocutaneous albinism which causes her to have poor vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKenzie Coan</span> American Paralympic swimmer

McKenzie Coan is an American swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she swam the 400m Freestyle in the S8 category. Coan was one of four S8 category swimmers chosen to compete for Team USA at the games. She later had her breakout games in the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where she would go on to win 3 gold medals in the category S7 50, 100, and 400M Freestyle races, with an additional silver medal in the 34-point women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle relay. In the process of getting her gold medal in the 50M Freestyle she also set a new Paralympic Record.

Carina Doyle is a New Zealand Olympic swimmer. In 2018 she competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay, and the Women's 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Dean (swimmer)</span> English swimmer

Thomas William Darnton Dean is a British competitive freestyle swimmer. He is a triple Olympic gold medallist, winning gold individually in 200 metre freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics and as part of a team in 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Maisie Summers-Newton, PLY is a British Paralympic swimmer, competing in S6 disability events. In August 2018, she took gold in the IPC Swimming European Championships SM6 200m individual medley and set a new world record at 2:59.60. She also holds the S6 100m Breaststroke world record in 1:32.16 which she achieved in May 2018 at the British Para-Swimming International Meet. She won two gold medals for Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

Matthew James Klotz is an American male deaf swimmer and reality television contestant. He has represented the United States at the Deaflympics and in other international events including the Deaf World Championships. He is a world record holder in swimming for deaf and is considered one of the finest deaf swimmers to represent USA after the retirements of Marcus Titus and Reed Gershwind. He made his Deaflympic debut at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anastasia Gorbenko</span> Israeli swimmer (born 2003)

Anastasia "Nastiya" Gorbenko is an Israeli competitive swimmer. She competes in the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and medley. She has won 8 World and European championships gold medals, competed at 2 Olympic finals, broken most of the Israeli national records for women and mixed relays, and is considered to be Israel's greatest swimmer of all time. In February 2024, Gorbenko won a silver medal at the Doha World Championships in the women's 400 meters individual medley. Gorbenko represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in swimming in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, and mixed 4x100m medley relay.

Olga Evgenievna Klyuchnikova is a Russian swimmer. Five-time champion of Deaflympics ). Four-time champion of the World Swimming Championships in Sao Paulo. Winner of the Russian Swimming Championship for the deaf (2015). Multiple champion of Russia, record holder of Russia in swimming. Merited Master of Sports of Russia in the sports for the deaf (2017).

Carli Elizabeth Cronk is an American deaf swimmer. In May 2022, she set the world Deaflympic record for having won the most number of gold medals by an athlete in a single edition of the Summer Deaflympics with a haul of 12 gold medals. She secured gold medals in women's 1500m freestyle, women's 200m butterfly, women's 200m freestyle, women's 200m and 400m individual medley, women's 200m backstroke, women's 400m freestyle, women's 4 × 200 m free relay, women's and mixed 4 × 100m medley relay, women's and mixed 4 × 100 m free relay events.

References

  1. "Rebecca Meyers". Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  2. "(Video Interview) Rebecca Meyers Uses Paralympic Trials Victories as Indicator for Rio". July 2, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  3. "Rebecca Meyers". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  4. "London's hometown heroes: Rebecca Meyers". Team USA. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  5. "Rebecca Meyers | Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  6. "4×200m freestyle relay | 2009 Summer Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  7. Sun, Baltimore (July 14, 2015). "Timonium para-swimmer Becca Meyers has can-do mantra, 'enormous' heart -- and an ESPY nomination". Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  8. "Athlete Bio". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Principe, Pat. "Meet the local swimmer who won an ESPY award!". Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  11. "Baltimore's Meyers sets world record to win Paralympic gold". Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  12. "3-Time Paralympic Gold Medalist Becca Meyers Joining Nation's Capital Swim Club".
  13. "United States name 34 swimmers on Tokyo 2020 Paralympic team". www.insidethegames.biz. June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  14. Gibson, Charlotte (July 20, 2021). "Deaf-blind swimmer Becca Meyers is denied personal care assistant, withdraws from Tokyo Paralympics". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  15. "London 2019 - Schedule and Results".
  16. "Mexico City 2017 - Swimming Live Results". Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 9, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. "Glasgow 2015 Schedule & Results - IPC Swimming". Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  19. "Para Pan Pacs: Day 5 Records and Final Wrap-Up". SwimSwam. August 12, 2014. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  20. "Results". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  21. "Live Results - 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships Montreal". Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  22. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Athletes | Deaflympics". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  25. "Full list of 2017 ESPYS winners". ESPN.com. July 12, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  26. reserved, © 2019 Women's Sports Foundation All rights. "Sportswoman of the Year 2018 | Women's Sports Foundation". Sportswoman of the Year. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. "USA Swimming - Katie Ledecky Claims Fourth Straight USA Swimming Athlete of the Year Honor". September 27, 2016. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016.
  28. "Team USA Awards". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  29. "F&M's Becca Meyers Heads for Gold in Rio". www.fandm.edu. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  30. "Wambach, U.S. team close ESPYS triumphantly". ESPN.com. July 15, 2015. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  31. "Meet The Nominees For Team USA's Best Of The Year Awards". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  32. "Titus and Meyers Selected as 2011 Sportspersons of the Year". February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.