Erica Marie Sullivan (born August 9, 2000) is a retired American

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 received a silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

after placing second and qualifying in the event at the 2020 US Olympic Swimming Trials.Mizoguchi, Karen (July 27, 2021)
"Katie Ledecky Makes History as First Olympic Champion in Women's 1500m Freestyle, Wins First Gold in Tokyo"
''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. Retrieved July 28, 2021.

Personal life

Sullivan's father, John, a former swimmer for the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, died of

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

when she was 16. In the aftermath, she dealt with mental health issues. “I'm proud of the mental health barriers that I got through, with my dad dying in 2017 and really hitting a rock bottom in 2018 from the stress of losing a parent at age 16 and having to get over the

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, the

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...

s, the depression, the

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

, all that,” she said during the Olympic Trials in Omaha. Sullivan is

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and is currently dating Austin-based activist

Izzy Richards Izzy is a common nickname for the given names Israel, Isaac, Isidor, Isidore, Isadore, Isidora, Isabel, Isobel, Isabella, Isaiah, Issam, etc. Izzy, Izzie, Issie, Issy, Isy or Izy may refer to: People Izzy * Israel Izzy Abraham (born 1980) ...

. Sullivan's mother, Maco, is

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

.De George, Matthew (July 22, 2021)
"Overcoming Tragedy, Olympic Journey of Erica Sullivan Brings Her Home to Tokyo"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Sullivan has a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel she started on August 4, 2014, and where she has published swimming-related content.Sullivan, Erica
"Erica Sullivan - About"
''

''. Retrieved July 10, 2021. Her first video, publicly published on December 14, 2014, was a

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

covering her team, the Sandpipers of Nevada, at the Junior National Swimming Championships in December 2014.Sullivan, Erica (December 14, 2014)
"Sandpiper Junior National Vlog 2k14"
''

''. Retrieved July 10, 2021. Since 2020, Sullivan has produced an annual

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

thread comparing swimming to films nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for the year.Dornan, Ben (February 9, 2022)
"TopTenTweets Special Edition: Erica Sullivan's Third Annual Oscars Thread"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved February 10, 2022.

Career

2018 Pan Pacific Championships

In August 2018, she represented the United States at the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She placed 5th in the timed-finals of the 800-meter freestyle swimming a time of 8:26.27, 9th in the timed-finals of the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 16:16.07, and 14th in the heats of the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:14.68."Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2018: Total Ranking"
''

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969. Seiko is ...

''. August 9–12, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2021.

2020 Summer Olympics

Sullivan

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to compete at the

in the 1500-meter freestyle for the USA Olympic swimming team. At the 2020 Olympic Games in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, she won the silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:41.41, just 4.07 seconds behind gold medalist

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky ( ; born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the List of individual gold medalists in swimming at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships (women)#Title leaders, most deco ...

, on July 28, 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.

Sarah Köhler Sarah Wellbrock (''née'' Köhler; born 20 June 1994) is a retired German swimmer, former World record holder, who won gold medal at 2019 World Championships and gold in 2017 European Swimming Championships (SC). She represented her country at ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

took the bronze medal with a time of 15:42.91. It was the first occurrence of women competing in the 1500-meter freestyle at the Summer Olympic Games.

2022 NCAA Championships

Sullivan competed for the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

at the 2022 NCAA DI Swimming and Diving Championships. She took third place in the Women's 500 yard freestyle in a 4:35.92 and second place in the Women's 1650 yard freestyle in a 15:45.94.

Awards and honors

* Golden Goggle Award nominee, Perseverance Award: 2021D'Addona, Dan (October 13, 2021)
"Golden Goggle Award Nominees Announced by USA Swimming, led by Dressel, Ledecky, Jacoby, Finke"
''

''. Retrieved October 13, 2021.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Erica 2000 births Living people American female freestyle swimmers LGBTQ swimmers American lesbian sportswomen American sportspeople of Japanese descent Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games swimmers for the United States 21st-century American sportswomen