UW-La Crosse alum Natalie Sims headed to finals in two events at Paralympic Games in Paris
UW-La Cross alum, Natalie Sims, competing in the Paralympics Games in Paris, is headed to the finals in two events.
The Edina, Minn., native finished fifth in the100-meter freestyle and sixth in the 200 IM.
This marked Sims’ third appearance in the Games. She graduated from UW-L in 2021.
International competition is not new to Sims. She earned four medals representing the US at the Lima 2019 Para Pan American Games, including capturing the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle. She was also a member of the 400-meter relay to earn the silver medal and secured two individual bronze medals in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley.
Sims attended Edina High School and competed at her YWCA’s swim club, the Minneapolis Otters, where she first qualified for the Paralympics. She was named to the U.S. Paralympic Swimming Emerging Team and competed in the 2014 Can-Am Paralympic Championships in Edmonton.
“I was training for Tokyo (in 2021, after graduating),” Sims said, “so it challenged me in a lot of ways because I was training with my able-bodied teammates and so that helped push me a lot.”
Sims earned her bachelor’s degree with a communications major while minoring in sociology and leadership development.
TOP PHOTO: UW-La Crosse swimming alum Natalie Sims poses in Paris during the Paralympic Games (PHOTO: UWLAthletics.com)