By Juan Carlos Maygua
The athletes that will represent the U.S in the upcoming Olympic & Paralympic games will aim to achieve success in their respective disciplines. On the first day of the Team USA Olympic Media Summit, I had the opportunity to hear many of these Olympic figures, however, what struck me the most is the energy and optimism from the members of the Paralympic swimming team. The enthusiasm of Olympic hopeful Kate Courtney in the mountain biking category went along with the energy from members of the USWNT, who also spoke ahead of their friendly matches in preparation for the Olympics.
The athletes
Evan Austin, a two-time Paralympic swimmer who represented Team USA in London 2012 and Rio 2016. McKenzie Coan, 4- time medalist (2 golds, 1 silver ) as a member of the Para-swimming team in London and Rio, will be looking to add more medals in Tokyo this summer. Kate Courtney qualified for her first Olympic games in 2019, after representing Team USA in world championships in mountain biking (2018 World Champion, 2019 World Cup winner). Jessica Long will be competing in her fifth Paralympic games this summer and add to her 23 Paralympic medals (13 golds, 6 silvers, 4 bronzes).
The preparation for the swimmers was challenging once the pandemic took place. Evan Austin spoke about his training methods with a bit of humor, “I’m 6’2 so swimming in a bathtub wasn’t an option”, he said. Evan emphasized that it was difficult to match the motion of swimming as a sport without having access to a pool, but he did a lot of core strength fitness and open water training. McKenzie Coan had to return to her hometown in Georgia and ended up ordering an 8-foot pool inside her parent’s garage. “My mom and I put it together the wrong way the first time, so we had to completely disassemble it and put it back together. Training at home was a unique and fun experience”. Jessica Long took advantage of her Physical therapy facility being open. “I was going in every day, jumping on the rowing machine, biking, trying to imitate the strokes with barbell weights. When I got back in the water I was amazed at how quickly I went back into it. I think it was doing those little exercises that added up for sure”
Each competitor has also gone through new phases that have helped them bring new perspectives and contributions to Team USA. Kate Courtney is coming off a victory in a mountain biking race after almost a year without competitive activity. Courtney mentioned how important Regie Miller was in her aspirations to be a mountain biker. It was that mutual interest that made them become good friends and turned Miller into Kate’s mentor. Evan Austin was introduced to a new side of swimming once he became a coach. He emphasized how the new role allowed him to take criticism with a new perspective. McKenzie Coan cherished her time as an NCAA athlete and how those four years allowed her to see the importance of team building. McKenzie is happy to take the team-building qualities to Team USA from the NCAA experience.
The USWNT
Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Crystal Dunn gave an energetic press conference where they touched on politics, the pandemic, and locker room rituals. The 30-minute virtual press conference saw a lot of laughs and great moments that were unexpected given the nature of the event, but it was fun. Rapinoe talked about how many of the squad members used the year break as a time to rest, given the demands that a world cup competition brings. She also added the importance of using their platforms to protest and empower a social cause. In terms of competition, the weather factor was addressed by BeckySauerbrunn. “This team is equipped to deal with adversity. Every tournament was faced with different challenges and there are no complaints, everyone knows that is going to be challenging, but that’s what makes us elite, is the ability to rise above those challenges, lean on each other and get the job done. There was high praise to their performance group and medical staff for their efforts in keeping players fit and ready to compete. The squad is ready to redeem itself from the bad experience in Rio, they don’t want Tokyo to be the first or last Olympic experience for some players in the team, so they’re determined to perform at their best level. The talk concluded with specific rituals before games that Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Crystal Dunn would usually perform. Dunn spoke about her being the DJ of the team so she is in charge of the music in the locker room. Sauerbrunn pointed out that she was a bit anxious before games or “The girl with the paper bag on her mouth” according to Rapinoe, bursting into laughter. While Rapinoe herself just goes about it as a regular day without feeling any pressure.
Overall, the athletes will feel the absence of their loved ones in these upcoming events, but each one of them is “ready to compete” as Evan Austin said. While many of them are training alongside each other, like McKensie and Jessica, TEAM USA is geared up and hopeful to win as many medals as possible. The USWNT has two preparation games coming up, as they go to Tokyo as the face of soccer for the USA once again.
On a final and very positive note, NBC announced coverage of the Paralympic Games. A huge step forward for many Paralympian hopefuls that have a story to tell and dreams to fulfill. Inclusion could be the message, but this will change lives moving forward.
“When we start to understand that people with impairments are part of our country, they make up a decent amount of us. We’re just people who love to compete. Hopefully, the momentum of what happens here carries on forward to 2028 and sees a shift on how the Paralympic Games are viewed”.
-Evan Austin