The Bishop’s School (LaJolla, Calif.) ‘08 Stanford University ’18, Earth Systems
classification: S5, SB4, SM5
Personal
Perkins began swimming at age 12 when his family moved to California. His parents encouraged him to try many sports growing up, even though he was born without hands or feet. Their only rule was that he had to try a sport at least once before he said he could not do it. His family gave him swimming lessons as a safety precaution. He was then spotted by coach Don Watkinds when he competed at the San Diego Triathlon Challenge. Perkins has set the standard in the S5 classification, having been named the Best Male Swimmer of the Meet at the 2014 and 2015 Can-Am Championships. In 2008 he was the co-recipient (with Rudy Garcia-Tolson) of the Challenged Athlete of the Year award by the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He was named the 2006 Challenged Athlete Star of the Year by San Diego Hall of Champions....Son of Roy and Jana Perkins...Roy is an only child but has five dog “siblings”…His hobbies include playing basketball, following the Washington Redskins and Capitals, stand-up comedy, and food…Cousin Levi Knutson (University of Colorado) played professional basketball in Spain.