Alena Popchanka

Alena Popchanka (born 28 July 1979 in Gomel, Belarus)[2] is a 4-time Olympic freestyle and butterfly swimmer originally from Belarus. She swam for Belarus at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics she swam for France; after her marriage to Frenchman Frédéric Vergnoux in early 2005.[3]

Alena Popchanka

Personal information
Full name	Alena Popchanka
Nationality	France (2005-on)  Belarus (pre-2005)
Born	(1979-07-28) 28 July 1979 Gomel, Belarus
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Medal record Women's swimming World Championships (LC) Representing  Belarus 2003 Barcelona 200 m freestyle Representing  France 2007 Melbourne[1] 4×200 m freestyle European Championships (LC) Representing  Belarus 2002 Berlin 100 m freestyle 2002 Berlin 200 m freestyle Representing  France 2008 Eindhoven 4×200 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 100 m butterfly 2006 Budapest 4x100 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4x200 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4x100 m medley European Championships (SC) Representing  Belarus 2002 Riesa 100 m freestyle 2002 Riesa 200 m freestyle 2002 Riesa 4x50 m freestyle 2003 Dublin 200 m freestyle 2003 Dublin 100 m butterfly Representing  France 2006 Helsinki 200 m freestyle 2005 Trieste 100 m butterfly 2006 Helsinki 100 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 100 m butterfly 2005 Trieste 100 m freestyle 2007 Debrecen 4x50 m medley

Popchanka won the 200 m freestyle at the 2003 World Championships and won the 200 m freestyle again at the 2006 Short Course European Championships.

She married Vergnoux, her coach, in early 2005, and became a French citizen a few months following the marriage (June). In November 2005, Popchanka was cleared to swim internationally for France, following a 1-year sit-out from competition which was not waived by the Belorussian federation following her departure and last swim for Belarus at the 2004 Olympics.[3] Because of this timing, Popchanka was unable to swim at the 2005 World Championships to defend her 200 m freestyle title from 2003.

Since November 2005, she has competed for France. Leading up to the 2008 Olympics, the couple lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Vergnoux coached from 2004-2008. Following the 2008 Olympics, Vergnoux and Popchanka moved back to France, after Vergnoux left his coaching job in Edinburgh for one in Paris.[4]

Vergnoux is notable in his own right: during his time in Edinburgh, he was twice named British Coach of the Year.[4] He also served on the British Olympic Team staff for the 2008 Olympics.