Who I Am

My name is Evan Wilkerson. I’m a Paralympic swimmer for the United States.

I was born with a rare eye condition called Leber congenital amaurosis, which left me almost completely blind. I raced in the S12 classification through the Paris Games; in 2026 I was reclassified as an S11.

The Beginning

I swam for fun until I watched the 2016 Paralympic Team Trials. Athletes with all kinds of disabilities were racing for spots on Team USA — and some of them couldn’t see the wall any better than I could. I wanted in.

Swimming Without Sight

Swimming blind takes some adapting. I can’t see the wall, so a tapper signals me when it’s time to turn. I can’t see the line at the bottom of the pool either, so I follow the lane line to stay straight.

I swim every race in my head before I ever swim it in the pool—every stroke, every turn, the finish. By the time I’m behind the blocks, I have to fully trust my training and the people around me, because once the race starts there’s no time to hesitate.

I train six days a week, mostly early mornings, repeating the same sets until they hold up when I’m exhausted.

Competition

I represented Team USA at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, earning a silver medal in the men’s 100m backstroke and a bronze medal in the men’s 100m breaststroke.

The following year, I represented Team USA at the Paralympic Games in Paris. In the lead-up to competition, I faced an E. coli infection that resulted in significant weight loss. I recovered in time to compete and contributed to Team USA setting a new American record in the 4×100 freestyle relay.

At the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, I earned bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke.

Then came 2026. At the Jimi Flowers Classic in Colorado Springs, I broke four American records in one meet — the 50, 100, and 200 backstroke and the 50 butterfly — three of which had belonged to five-time Paralympic gold medalist Brad Snyder. At the Para-Pan Pacific Games, I set the world record in the men’s S11 100m backstroke, broke the American record with the 4×100 medley relay (49pts) team, and earned bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle.