Presenters

McKenzie Coan was diagnosed at just 19 days old with a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, otherwise known as brittle bone disease. This condition causes her bone to break easily, and as a result of this diagnosis, doctors said that she would never walk, never sit upright, never talk, and maybe not even live a very long life. However, her parents were determined to not have their daughter live a life dictated by other people’s expectations. 

Coan’s journey in the water started with aqua therapy at 4 years old, and right away she discovered a sense of freedom that she had never felt before. Her two brothers joined the swim team around the same time, and she quickly found herself intrigued to graduate aqua therapy in the baby pool and venture into the big kid lap lanes. She swam for the very first time on her own in order to qualify for swim team, and has never looked back since. She loved (and still does) the feeling of proving others wrong when she rolls up behind the blocks in her wheelchair. 

When Coan was 8, she discovered the Paralympic Games and started her Paralympic swimming career. By the time she was 11, she qualified for Paralympic Trials as the youngest competitor at the meet. After just missing making the U.S. Paralympic Team for the 2008 Beijing Games, she vowed to spend the next four years leading up to the next Paralympics giving everything she had to qualify. 

Coan qualified for 2012 London Games by 0.11 of a second in the 400m freestyle. At her first Paralympic Games, she made it to finals, leaving with a sixth place finish. In 2016, she qualified for five events for the Rio Games. During competition, McKenzie won three golds and a silver. Coan recalls being on the podium in Rio, thinking back to the very beginning of her journey when her parents were only ever told of all the things she would never be able to accomplish. In 2020, she won gold in the 400m and silver in the 100m freestyle. And in Paris, she won silver in the 400m. In total, she has won four gold and three silver medals at the Paralympic Games.

Her journey captures the very meaning of believing that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. Through every broken bone, every setback, every obstacle, she never lost hope.