Apsara Katarina Sakbun (; born February 21, 2001) is an American-Cambodian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She qualified to represent

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Biography

Sakbun was born on February 21, 2001, and grew up in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

. Her father is a Cambodian immigrant to the U.S., while her mother immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica. Her sister Haley is also a

, while her brother Brandon was elected mayor of Terre Haute in 2023. Growing up, she participated in a number of sports, including

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, track,

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and dance, before focusing solely on competitive swimming by high school. Sakbun attended

Terre Haute South Vigo High School Terre Haute South Vigo High School is a public high school located in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is a part of the Vigo County School Corporation. As the name implies, the school's district covers the southern portion of Terre Haute, as well as most ...

and competed for four years in freestyle and backstroke events. She was an all-conference and all-state selection and won two sectional championship in the 100 backstroke and one in the 100 freestyle. At South Vigo, she set records in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. She committed to swim in college for the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Univer ...

. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Ball State in 2019–20, Sakbun helped set the school 200 freestyle relay record and placed 10th at the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) Championships in the 50 freestyle. She was named Academic All-MAC in 2020–21 and placed fifth at the MAC Championships in the 50 freestyle. She repeated as an Academic All-MAC selection in 2021–22 and was a part of the relay team that set school records in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. She won her third Academic All-MAC selection in 2022–23 and helped break program records in the 400 freestyle relay and 200 freestyle relay. By 2023, Sakbun appeared in the school record books 15 times. In 2023, Sakbun participated at the SEA Games representing

, where she set national records in three different events. That year, she moved from Terre Haute to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, and became an operations analyst for

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

. In North Carolina, she joined the Dowd YMCA and trained six days a week. In 2024, Cambodia qualified a swimmer for the

and Sakbun was notified that she was the top choice to fill the spot; she accepted, although if she had declined, her sister would have competed at the Olympics instead. She was selected to compete in the 50 m freestyle event at the Olympics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakbun, Apsara 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Cambodian female swimmers Olympic swimmers for Cambodia American female swimmers Cambodian people of Jamaican descent American people of Cambodian descent American sportspeople of Jamaican descent Ball State Cardinals athletes Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Indiana 21st-century American sportswomen