Paralympic champions McKenzie Coan and Mallory Weggemann headline U.S. Para Swimming’s roster of 33 athletes heading to the 2023 U.S. Parapan American Games this November in Santiago, Chile.
Participants at the Para Swimming World Championships this summer were not eligible for selection to the Parapan American Games. As a result, the majority of the team is making their major international debuts.
Coan, a four-time Paralympic gold medalist and nine-time world champion, pulled out of Worlds due to a bad respiratory and ear infection that resulted in temporary facial paralysis. Weggemann, a three-time Paralympic gold medalist and former world record holder in the S7 50 free and S7 200 IM, will be racing for the first time since the birth of their daughter, Charlotte, in March. The veteran duo is joined by fellow Paralympic champions Evan Austin and Mikaela Jenkins along with fellow Tokyo Paralympians Abbas Karimi, Keegan Knott, Zach Shattuck, Haven Shepherd, Natalie Sims, and Madelyn White.
“We are very optimistic about this team and excited to see many of our younger athletes getting to represent Team USA for the first time,” said U.S. Para Swimming director Erin Popovich. “They will be looking to the athletes who have been on this stage before, and I have no doubt the experience that group brings will be extremely helpful as many of our newer athletes make their debuts.”
The 2023 edition of the Parapan American Games will be held from November 17-26 featuring 18 sports. The event takes place once every four years.
2023 U.S. Parapan American Games Roster
Men
- Evan Austin
- Carson Bruner
- Yaseen El Demerdash
- David Gelfand
- Connor Gioffreda
- Abbas Karimi
- Jeff Lovett
- Trevor Lukacsko
- Jack O’Neil
- William Rankine
- Zach Shattuck
- Evan Wilkerson
- Adin Williams
- Braxton Wong*
Women
- Sarah Bofinger
- McKenzie Coan
- Gabriella Farinas
- Maria Francescotti
- Megan Gioffreda*
- Mikaela Jenkins
- Rachel Keehn
- Abigail Kershaw
- Keegan Knott
- Elise Morley
- Grace Nuhfer
- Cali Prochaska
- Piper Sadowski
- Haven Shepherd
- Amanda Sheward*
- Natalie Sims
- Mallory Weggemann
- Madelyn White*
- Taylor Winnett
*Per the Santiago Parapan American Games Qualification Guide, athletes who have a Review or Review 2023 or Prior status have been provisionally selected to the team pending the athlete’s attending a classification evaluation prior to or during the Games.
