Elizabeth (Liz) Marian Swaney (born 30 July 1984) is an American who competed for Hungary in the 2018 Winter Olympics in the women's halfpipe based on her Hungarian ancestry.

Born on (1984-07-30)30 July 1984,[1] Swaney grew up in a bilingual Spanish–English household in the Oakland Rockridge neighborhood, and attended high school in Lafayette.

[3] Having had Olympic ambitions since childhood, she sought to compete in bobsleigh as a pilot for the United States, but was told she was too small to be competitive in the sport.

[2] She then turned to skeleton, in which she competed internationally,[6][7] and freestyle skiiing, in which she sought to represent Venezuela, her mother's homeland, at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

[15] So while the United States had six women ranked within the top 20 in the world in halfpipe skiing, only four were allowed to compete in the Olympics based on the quota system.

"So she did not cheat, but simply used the system... That's earned her a very mixed bag of responses, celebrating her as an inspirational fighting spirit but also condemning her as an unfair contestant.

"[19] Swaney seeks to qualify to represent Hungary as a powerlifter at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; she became interested in the sport while training in skeleton, and focused on it during the COVID lockdown.

[2] Swaney has worked as a technical recruiter for Thumbtack,[6] as a barista, and as a stand-up comedian and producing tech pitch roast comedy shows.