WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue will be represented in Paris again as a quartet of constituents with ties to the University represent Team USA at the Paralympic Games, the premier international showcase for adaptive sports.
The Paralympic Games are set for Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 at the same venues that hosted the Olympic Games earlier this summer in Paris. The showcase begins with Wednesday's opening ceremony.
The quartet of Boilermakers in Paris are all experienced Paralympians, headlined by rising senior Joel Gomez from Track & Field, who is now a two-time Paralympian. Four-time Paralympian Evan Austin won a pair of swimming medals in Tokyo three years ago and is set to serve as one of four team captains for Team USA at the pool again. He continues to train under Purdue Women's Swimming & Diving coach John Klinge in at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. Rose Hollermann is also a four-time Paralympian and two-time medalist for Team USA in wheelchair basketball. She's enrolling at Purdue Global this fall to pursue a master's degree in education.
Lastly, Purdue swimming alumna Julie Dussliere is closing out her tenure as the Chief of Paralympic Sport for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Purdue University announced this week that Dussliere will be returning to campus full-time this fall to become the president and chief of executive officer of Purdue for Life Foundation. In that prominent position, she will oversee all aspects of alumni-facing organizations – including the Purdue Alumni Association, President's Council and John Purdue Club.
EVENT SCHEDULE IN PARIS
Watch Live on Peacock & NBC/USA/CNBC
Evan Austin – Swimming (USA)
• 200m IM SM7 // Saturday, Aug. 31 – Prelims at 5:15 a.m., Final at 2:02 p.m. ET (2:35.63, 6th in Final)
• 400m Free S7 // Monday, Sept. 2 – Prelims at 3:30 a.m., Final at 11:30 a.m. ET (4:48.91, 4th in Final)
• 50m Fly S7 // Saturday, Sept. 7 – Prelims at 4:25 a.m., Final at 12:30 p.m. ET (29.89, 4th in Final)
Joel Gomez – Track & Field/Athletics (USA)
• 1500m T13 // Tuesday, Sept. 3 – Final at 4:17 a.m. ET (3:48.42, 7th -- American Record Time)
Rose Hollermann – Basketball (USA)
• vs. Germany // Friday, Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 73-44)
• vs. The Netherlands // Saturday, Aug. 31 at 12:15 p.m ET (L, 69-56)
• vs. Japan // Monday, Sept. 2 at 7:45 a.m. ET (W, 62-52)
• vs. Great Britain (Quarterfinal) // Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 59-52)
• vs. China (Semifinal) // Friday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 50-47)
• vs. The Netherlands (Gold Medal Match) // Sunday, Sept. 8 at 7:45 a.m. ET (L, 63-49 - Team USA Wins Silver)
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERS AT THE PARALYMPIC GAMES IN PARIS
• Evan Austin (Swimming/Former Purdue Assistant Coach) – As a four-time Paralympian, Austin has been selected among the four captains for the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team. He's the defending Paralympic champion in the 50-meter butterfly S7 and also won bronze in the 400m freestyle S7 in Tokyo. The Terre Haute native and Indiana State alumnus began training at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in the fall of 2019 while also serving as a volunteer assistant under head coach John Klinge. After his success in Tokyo, Austin opted to extend his swimming career while continuing to work in the private sector. The West Lafayette resident continues to train under Klinge at the Burke Aquatic Center while maintaining an active presence at Purdue's meets. In Tokyo, he eclipsed the American record with a winning time of 28.98 in the 50m fly, a record that still stands. He also continues to hold Team USA records in 100m fly, 200m IM, 200m free, 400m (all S7 events; SM7 for 200 IM) as well as two relays. Austin was also victorious in the 50m fly at the 2019 Para World Swimming Championships. He has spastic paraplegia.
• Joel Gomez (Track & Field/Senior Student-Athlete at Purdue) – From Encinitas, California, Gomez competed in the 400 meters T13 and 1,500 meters T13 for Team USA at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Earlier this year, he won the 1,500m T13 at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in March and, most significantly, the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in July. Gomez also placed seventh in the 1,500m T13 at the World Para Athletics Championships in May. In his first season for the Boilermakers as a junior in 2023-24, he competed in six meets, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 1,500m in a season-best 3:52.10 at the venerable Texas Relays. Gomez is majoring in civil engineering at Purdue and is expected to graduate in May 2025. He was a two-time gold medalist at the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships. Gomez is legally blind due to a genetic visual impairment called blue cone monochromacy.
• Rose Hollermann (Basketball/Current Purdue Global Graduate Student) – The Minnesota native made her Paralympic debut in 2012 as a 16-year-old and is now a four-time Paralympian, helping Team USA win gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 while she was still the youngest member of the team. The Americans also won bronze three years ago in Tokyo and bronze again at the 2022 World Championships. Hollermann opted to pursue a master's degree in education from Purdue Global after learning of Team USA's new Guild Career Opportunity Platform. Purdue Global is the degree provider of the Guild and Team USA Learning Network. She's an alumnus of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where she was a standout scholarship performer for the Lady Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball team and the 2015-16 NWBA Collegiate Player of the Year. In 2001, Hollermann and her family were involved in a car accident that took the lives of two of her brothers and caused her to be partially paralyzed from the waist down.
• Julie Dussliere (Chief of Paralympic Sport for the USOPC/Purdue Alumna) – Dussliere oversees the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee's high-performance planning and support processes and sport development projects for the 27 summer and winter Paralympic sports. She also directs the day-to-day operations for the six Paralympic sports managed by the USOPC, a list that includes swimming and track & field at the summer Paralympics. She began her USOPC career in 2003, joining U.S. Paralympics as an associate director and head coach of the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Team. Dussliere swam at Purdue in the early 1990s and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Russian from the university's School of Languages and Cultures (now part of Liberal Arts). She's returning to campus full-time this fall to become the president and chief of executive officer of Purdue for Life Foundation. In that prominent position, she will oversee all aspects of alumni-facing organizations – including the Purdue Alumni Association, President's Council and John Purdue Club.
The Paralympic Games are set for Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 at the same venues that hosted the Olympic Games earlier this summer in Paris. The showcase begins with Wednesday's opening ceremony.
The quartet of Boilermakers in Paris are all experienced Paralympians, headlined by rising senior Joel Gomez from Track & Field, who is now a two-time Paralympian. Four-time Paralympian Evan Austin won a pair of swimming medals in Tokyo three years ago and is set to serve as one of four team captains for Team USA at the pool again. He continues to train under Purdue Women's Swimming & Diving coach John Klinge in at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. Rose Hollermann is also a four-time Paralympian and two-time medalist for Team USA in wheelchair basketball. She's enrolling at Purdue Global this fall to pursue a master's degree in education.
Lastly, Purdue swimming alumna Julie Dussliere is closing out her tenure as the Chief of Paralympic Sport for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Purdue University announced this week that Dussliere will be returning to campus full-time this fall to become the president and chief of executive officer of Purdue for Life Foundation. In that prominent position, she will oversee all aspects of alumni-facing organizations – including the Purdue Alumni Association, President's Council and John Purdue Club.
EVENT SCHEDULE IN PARIS
Watch Live on Peacock & NBC/USA/CNBC
Evan Austin – Swimming (USA)
• 200m IM SM7 // Saturday, Aug. 31 – Prelims at 5:15 a.m., Final at 2:02 p.m. ET (2:35.63, 6th in Final)
• 400m Free S7 // Monday, Sept. 2 – Prelims at 3:30 a.m., Final at 11:30 a.m. ET (4:48.91, 4th in Final)
• 50m Fly S7 // Saturday, Sept. 7 – Prelims at 4:25 a.m., Final at 12:30 p.m. ET (29.89, 4th in Final)
Joel Gomez – Track & Field/Athletics (USA)
• 1500m T13 // Tuesday, Sept. 3 – Final at 4:17 a.m. ET (3:48.42, 7th -- American Record Time)
Rose Hollermann – Basketball (USA)
• vs. Germany // Friday, Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 73-44)
• vs. The Netherlands // Saturday, Aug. 31 at 12:15 p.m ET (L, 69-56)
• vs. Japan // Monday, Sept. 2 at 7:45 a.m. ET (W, 62-52)
• vs. Great Britain (Quarterfinal) // Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 59-52)
• vs. China (Semifinal) // Friday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. ET (W, 50-47)
• vs. The Netherlands (Gold Medal Match) // Sunday, Sept. 8 at 7:45 a.m. ET (L, 63-49 - Team USA Wins Silver)
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERS AT THE PARALYMPIC GAMES IN PARIS
• Evan Austin (Swimming/Former Purdue Assistant Coach) – As a four-time Paralympian, Austin has been selected among the four captains for the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team. He's the defending Paralympic champion in the 50-meter butterfly S7 and also won bronze in the 400m freestyle S7 in Tokyo. The Terre Haute native and Indiana State alumnus began training at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in the fall of 2019 while also serving as a volunteer assistant under head coach John Klinge. After his success in Tokyo, Austin opted to extend his swimming career while continuing to work in the private sector. The West Lafayette resident continues to train under Klinge at the Burke Aquatic Center while maintaining an active presence at Purdue's meets. In Tokyo, he eclipsed the American record with a winning time of 28.98 in the 50m fly, a record that still stands. He also continues to hold Team USA records in 100m fly, 200m IM, 200m free, 400m (all S7 events; SM7 for 200 IM) as well as two relays. Austin was also victorious in the 50m fly at the 2019 Para World Swimming Championships. He has spastic paraplegia.
• Joel Gomez (Track & Field/Senior Student-Athlete at Purdue) – From Encinitas, California, Gomez competed in the 400 meters T13 and 1,500 meters T13 for Team USA at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Earlier this year, he won the 1,500m T13 at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in March and, most significantly, the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in July. Gomez also placed seventh in the 1,500m T13 at the World Para Athletics Championships in May. In his first season for the Boilermakers as a junior in 2023-24, he competed in six meets, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 1,500m in a season-best 3:52.10 at the venerable Texas Relays. Gomez is majoring in civil engineering at Purdue and is expected to graduate in May 2025. He was a two-time gold medalist at the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships. Gomez is legally blind due to a genetic visual impairment called blue cone monochromacy.
• Rose Hollermann (Basketball/Current Purdue Global Graduate Student) – The Minnesota native made her Paralympic debut in 2012 as a 16-year-old and is now a four-time Paralympian, helping Team USA win gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 while she was still the youngest member of the team. The Americans also won bronze three years ago in Tokyo and bronze again at the 2022 World Championships. Hollermann opted to pursue a master's degree in education from Purdue Global after learning of Team USA's new Guild Career Opportunity Platform. Purdue Global is the degree provider of the Guild and Team USA Learning Network. She's an alumnus of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where she was a standout scholarship performer for the Lady Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball team and the 2015-16 NWBA Collegiate Player of the Year. In 2001, Hollermann and her family were involved in a car accident that took the lives of two of her brothers and caused her to be partially paralyzed from the waist down.
• Julie Dussliere (Chief of Paralympic Sport for the USOPC/Purdue Alumna) – Dussliere oversees the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee's high-performance planning and support processes and sport development projects for the 27 summer and winter Paralympic sports. She also directs the day-to-day operations for the six Paralympic sports managed by the USOPC, a list that includes swimming and track & field at the summer Paralympics. She began her USOPC career in 2003, joining U.S. Paralympics as an associate director and head coach of the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Team. Dussliere swam at Purdue in the early 1990s and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Russian from the university's School of Languages and Cultures (now part of Liberal Arts). She's returning to campus full-time this fall to become the president and chief of executive officer of Purdue for Life Foundation. In that prominent position, she will oversee all aspects of alumni-facing organizations – including the Purdue Alumni Association, President's Council and John Purdue Club.