Carla Swart

{{Infobox cyclist

| name = Carla Swart

| image =

| caption =

| fullname = Carla Swart

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1987|11|26}}

| birth_place = {{RSA}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2011|01|19|1987|11|26}}

| death_place = South Africa

| height =

| weight =

| currentteam =

| discipline = Road

| role = Rider

| ridertype =

| amateuryears1 =

| amateurteam1 =

| proyears1 = 2009–2010

| proteam1 = MTN Energade Ladies Team

| proyears2 = 2011

| proteam2 = {{UCI team code|SLU|2011}}

| majorwins =

}}

Carla Swart (26 November 1987 – 19 January 2011) was a South African cyclist who won nineteen individual and team cycling titles.[http://www.cqranking.com/women/asp/gen/rider.asp?riderid=3621 CQ] She was a professional cyclist, riding for HTC–Highroad Women in 2011.

Swart moved to the United States in 2004 as a teenager.{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cycling-world-remembers-carla-swart|title=Cycling world remembers Carla Swart|last1=Weislo|first1=Laura|date=23 January 2011|work=Cycling News|publisher= |accessdate=24 December 2012}} She attended Lees-McRae College, where she was awarded scholarships in running and cycling.ESPN [https://www.espn.com/olympics/cycling/news/story?id=6040467 "Carla Swart dies following accident"]. Retrieved 9 February 2011

Career

Carla Swart became the first cyclist to win all four U.S. collegiate titles in one season (2008). She placed 10th in the women's road race in the 2010 UCI Road World Championships, and had placed eighth at the Commonwealth Games in October of that year. She signed with the HTC-Highroad cycling team shortly before her death. Her career spanned 21 national titles in four different biking disciplines: cyclo-cross, mountain bike, road, and track.

Death

Swart died whilst training in South Africa after being hit by a truck. It was claimed that she had looked over her left shoulder, as if she were in the United States, instead of her right, as would normally be the case in South Africa where vehicles drive on the left-hand side of the road. {{UCI team code|SLU|2011}} teammate Ellen van Dijk dedicated her stage win and general classification victory at the 2011 Ladies Tour of Qatar to Swart. The prize money Van Dijk earned in Qatar was sent to her family.{{cite news|title=Ellen Van Dijk dedicates Qatar win to Carla Swart|url=http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/02/news/ellen-van-dijk-dedicates-qatar-win-to-carla-swart_158752|publisher=velonews|date=3 February 2011|accessdate=10 December 2013}}{{cite news|title=HTC-Highroad Dedicates Qatar Victory to Carla Swart|url=https://firstendurance.com/2011/02/04/htc-highroad-dedicates-qatar-victory-to-carla-swart/|publisher=firstendurance.com|date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 December 2013|archive-date=13 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213025604/https://firstendurance.com/2011/02/04/htc-highroad-dedicates-qatar-victory-to-carla-swart/|url-status=dead}} Lees-McRae College has a scholarship named in her honor.{{Cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Monte|title=Carla Swart, a cycling star at Lees-McRae College, killed in collision in her native South Africa|url=https://journalnow.com/news/local/carla-swart-a-cycling-star-at-lees-mcrae-college-killed-in-collision-in-her-native/article_de5bfde9-30ea-5610-a33c-34ee09a09ba4.html|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Winston-Salem Journal|date=21 January 2011 |language=en}}