# Noga Nir-Kistler

Noga Nir-Kistler (May 18, 1979 – December 14, 2021) was an Israeli-born American Paralympic swimmer and table tennis player who won a Pennsylvania State Championship in table tennis in competition against able-bodied former champions, participated in table tennis in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and won a bronze medal representing the United States in the 2012 London Paralympics in the 200-meter breaststroke.

## Early life and education

Nir-Kistler was born on May 18, 1979, in Israel, to Eliezer Nir and Nira Nir, the youngest child of a family with three older brothers. She competed as a youth as a member of Israel's Junior National Swim Team.
In 1997, she relocated to the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania with her parents after her father Eliezer, an engineer, was hired by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She attended Whitehall High School, and swam for the school's team in 1998, the year she graduated. She resided in Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania.
Nir-Kistler worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor at Allentown YMCA in Allentown. In 1999, after two years in Pennsylvania, her family returned to Israel, but she decided to remain and become a U.S. citizen. She first learned table tennis from her husband Fred, a local table tennis champion, having never played the game before meeting him. In 1999, as a student at Lehigh Carbon Community College, her disability from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) began to slow her down, and she was forced to leave school. By age 20, she was confined to a wheelchair.
From 2000 to 2004, she underwent 14 surgeries. The disease affected her left hand, requiring her to switch hands when she played table tennis, an adjustment that somehow did not reduce her competitiveness. Her surgeries reduced her pain and allowed her to continue her pursuit of athletics, but pain still persisted, and her condition varied over time.

## Athletic career
### Competitive swimming

In 2010, she returned to swimming, and competed as a member of the U.S. Paralympic team.

### Competitive table tennis

In 2003, she won a Pennsylvania state title in table tennis against able bodied players, beating 12-time champion Nancy Newcomber of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She and her husband both won medals at the Keystone State Games in August 1999. In December 2003, she won a title at the U.S. Open National Championships at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In December 2006, she won a gold and silver at the U.S. Open Table Tennis Championship in Las Vegas.
Nir-Kistler won two silver medals at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro in both table tennis singles and doubles.
In 2008, she was ranked the top U.S. female paralympic table tennis player, and eighth in the world among those with Class 5 (least) handicapped players.

### 2004 Paralympics

She was chosen as a U.S. team member for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in table tennis. Due to a downturn in her health, however, she did not travel with the team to participate in the games.

### 2008 Paralympics

In 2008, Nir-Kistler was rated as the No. 1 U.S. paralympic table tennis player, and participated in table tennis at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, but did not medal. She had several outstanding coaches and training partners, including Jason Brader, owner of the well-known FASST Performance Center in the Lehigh Valley, John Larson, Head Coach of the Emmaus Aquatic Club (EMAC), and George Frick, owner of A&H Sporting Goods, who often acted as a sponsor.

### 2012 Paralympic bronze

Nir-Kistler participated in the preliminary heats in five events at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, spanning every stroke, but made the finals in only two events. On September 4, 2012, swimming for the United States, she placed sixth in the final round of the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 36.83.
She won a bronze medal in 100 metres (330 ft) breaststroke on September 5, 2012 with a time of 1:50.75 at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Her disability prevented her from using her legs to kick, so all her propulsion was provided by her upper body.
At the 2013 World Championships in Montreal, she won a silver medal in both the 100-meter breast stroke and freestyle, and bronze medals in the 50-meter butterfly and 4x50 medley relay.
In 2016, at the age of 37, she qualified for the U.S. Paralympic swimming team in the 100 breaststroke, 50 butterfly, and 50 freestyle at the summer trials in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, the Olympic Committee notified her 10 hours before her takeoff time that her pulmonologist decided it was not advisable for her to compete since she had not yet thoroughly recovered from a bout of pneumonia.

## Death

She died on December 14, 2021, at age 42.