Evan Austin

EA Swim (Twitter profile, 23 Feb 2021; Athlete, 07 Jan 2016)

His father. (Athlete, 07 Jan 2016)

"Even though I was born with a disability and some of my teammates had an accident or inherited their disability in the middle of their lives, we just adapt and conquer." (teamusa.org, 01 Sep 2020)

To win a medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (teamusa.org, 11 Sep 2020)

He was born with familial spastic paraparesis, an inherited condition that causes progressive stiffness and contraction in the lower limbs. His mother Nola has the same condition. While his mother was not impacted until she was in her late 40s, the condition only remained dormant in him until age three. (teamusa.org, 16 Dec 2019; menshealth.com, 24 Oct 2019; The e20 Podcast Episode 21, 12 Apr 2017; sunshinepando.com, 15 Aug 2016)

RETURN TO COLORADO
In September 2020 he returned to his previous base at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, United States of America, after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him working as a consultant and volunteer assistant coach to the women's swimming team at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. "It is a bizarre feeling. I had to leave my dream situation at Purdue University where I was close to family, friends, and got to work with the best staff and group of young women I have ever met in my life. And now with all the new protocols in place to protect us from COVID-19, it feels like a ghost town here [in Colorado]. But I'm sincerely thankful that the powers at the USOPC [US Olympic and Paralympic Committee] have given me and my teammates a safe place to train amongst all the chaos." (Instagram profile, 01 Sep 2020)

OCCUPATION
He has worked as a volunteer consultant with Purdue University's women's swimming and diving team, and hopes to return to the role after the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "Purdue is a Big Ten Conference member and having just one athlete like myself there can give the Paralympic movement great exposure. Word of mouth is a really understated method of the growth of this movement. I'm kind of just a 'yes man' when it comes to my role. Whatever they need from me I'm happy to oblige and just get stuff done." (Instagram profile, 01 Sep 2020; teamusa.org, 16 Dec 2019; tribstar.com, 30 Sep 2019)