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]

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Alena Popchanka

Popchanka in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Alena Popchanka
Nationality	France (2005-on)  Belarus (pre-2005)
Born	(1979-07-28) 28 July 1979 (age 44) 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 4 × 100 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4 × 200 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4 × 100 m medley European Championships (SC) Representing  Belarus 2002 Riesa 100 m freestyle 2002 Riesa 200 m freestyle 2002 Riesa 4 × 50 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 4 × 50 m medley

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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 Belarusian 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 to 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.