September 24, 2022

Star Scholar-Athlete Ella Eastin Joins the Paradis Pro Team

World-class swimmer Ella Eastin joins the Paradis Pro team, lending her excellence as an athlete and a scholar to our ambassador program. Eastin grew up in Irvine, CA, where her family introduced her to the water when she was only a few months old. Swimming quickly became a part of her life, and her competitive spirit and hard work led her to success in the pool for about 18 years.

Eastin amassed a long list of accolades and records on the Stanford University and USA Swimming National teams. During her four years at Stanford, she won 12 NCAA titles, broke four NCAA and American Records in the 400 IM, 200 IM, 200 Butterfly and 800 Freestyle Relay, and was a part of the U.S. 2019 World Championships team. She was captain of Stanford’s NCAA championship team in 2018-19, and studied just as hard as she trained. Eastin was named the PAC-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and received too many Academic-All-American honors to mention here.

Eastin was on track to become an Olympic star until January 2020, when she was overcome by a medical mystery. She was part of a three-woman post-grad group with Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel living and training in CA. One day Eastin woke up from a nap and fainted, then later discovered that she couldn’t manage getting through the day without feeling constantly fatigued. She paused her training to figure out what was wrong. After 9 months of searching, Eastin was diagnosed with Dysautonomia, an umbrella term that describes an issue with the autonomic nervous system, which controls many important automatic functions including blood pressure, heart rate, and more. In Eastin’s case, she found out that she had developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and orthostatic intolerance, which explained her exhaustion.

While she was not able to go back to her rigorous Olympic training, Eastin has learned how to manage her symptoms through a medication regimen, changes in lifestyle and exercise, and dietary changes. She lives a relatively normal life now and is grateful for what she is able to do on a daily basis.

Eastin graduated from Stanford in 2019 with a degree in human biology, and has just begun medical training at Stanford School of Medicine to become a physician. While she has not exactly decided what particular specialty she wants to pursue, her experience with chronic illness/invisible disability has inspired her to want to care for that patient population. Although dysautonomia caused quite a disruption in the life Eastin once knew, she attacks every day with positivity and a vivacity for life. Eastin claims that she would not wish this experience on anyone else, but also would not change a thing because of what it has taught her. This battle has made Eastin a stronger person, and she has used her “half glass full” mentality to launch Dysunderstood, a platform for individuals with invisible illnesses. Dysunderstood helps to raise awareness of dysautonomia and allow others who are facing similar challenges to support each other.

Eastin’s positive attitude, desire to give back to her community, and fighting spirit are inspirational. Given her career as an athlete and her current work as a medical student, she makes an ideal ambassador for Paradis Sport. As she says, “My lifestyle - which includes being on my feet, often in scrubs, and then active outside of my work/school - makes Paradis underwear the perfect all-day option for me. The underwear is comfortable, functional, and most importantly, transitional, which is important to me in the many activities I find myself doing every day.”