Q&A with USA Paralympian and Numotion Spokesperson, McKenzie Coan

Intro hi team new motion i'm joined today by usa paralympian and new motion ambassador mackenzie cohen to discuss national women in sports day mackenzie thanks so much for joining us yeah hi new motion i'm excited to be here What today means to you great well let's jump right in mackenzie as a three-time paralympic gold medalist and current world record holder that's quite the mouthful by the way this day must have a lot of significance for you would you share a little bit with all of us about what today means to you absolutely this day means everything to me as a female athlete and i think first and foremost it's really a celebration of our past and honoring all the female athletes who came before us and also a huge celebration of our future and what's to come with the next generation i think one of the best things about what i do and part of my mission that i set out when i started swimming as a professional athlete was to you know influence the next generation of female athletes and it doesn't matter what area of sports they're involved when it could be you know anything but i want to show them what is possible through hard work and determination and i want to see them do it even better in the future so it really all comes down to our past and our future that we have to look forward to Why is this important that's awesome and why do you think it's important to have an entire day set aside to recognize girls and women in sport i think it's really important because today we see more involvement with young female athletes than we ever have before and taking a day to celebrate that is incredible because i can tell you from my story along the way and i think especially being a paralympic athlete you know with a disability people tried to tell me what i was capable of they tried to dictate what i could and could not dream of when it came to swimming and i think it's a reminder for all girls and all women out there involved in sports to remember that they can do anything they set their mind to when you have the right work ethic and you have the right determination there's nothing you can't dream of and there's nothing you can't accomplish so i think having an entire day to celebrate that and the amazing feats that female athletes are out there achieving i mean it's a pretty great day i'm not gonna lie Empowering young girls absolutely that's so well said you know something i often think about with women in sports is you know from a young age just the opportunity for girls to be involved in it on a team you know growing up for me that's the the one place that you could be part of a team really was through sports so um as a mom now i'm always excited and enthusiastic when my kids show any sort of interest in sports because it's so important for them to learn how to work as a part of a team and to be a team player so that's fantastic mckenzie when do you feel most empowered as a female athlete i think one of the coolest things about being a professional athlete and especially in the last few years is when you know young girls come up to me and they go oh my gosh like because you did it like i know i can do it and i think that's really the most rewarding part of it all is having them come up or their families and also seeing all of them out there making a difference and going the next generation they're so fierce and they're so determined and i love seeing that and really the goal when you come in as an athlete is to leave the sport better than when you found it and i am very confident and i feel that they inspire me every time i watch them compete that it is in good hands and i can't wait to see what they accomplish next so i think that gives me a little inspiration to keep going as well Inspiring female athletes that's wonderful and i'm sure every everyone on team new motion would agree with me that you're certainly going to leave your sport better than you found at mckenzie thank you that means a lot who's um just last question really quickly here share with us if you will a female athlete who's inspired you yes there have been many along the way which i've been very very fortunate to have but carolyn joyce is incredible she is a swimmer for team usa and she had gone to a number of olympic games a number of olympic medals but really what inspired me was her determination and her grace being an incredible athlete but also being an incredible role model for young women and i think that's really what i strive to be so having her and so many other female athletes to look up to it's everything in sports that's wonderful well mackenzie thank you so much for your time today and sharing with us yeah thank you andrea and thanks team new motion