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Welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have discussions with individuals who are building

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accessible businesses or products advocating for inclusion or excelling in adaptive sports.

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Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities, but rather to amplify

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their voice, ideas, and learn strategies to scale our impact and help other businesses

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become more accessible.

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Today we are joined by Jaden Molvold from New Zealand, who is an elite Paralympic athlete

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and a member of many committees that strive for a more accessible future.

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Jayden, thanks for joining us today.

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Thank you for inviting me.

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I'm excited to have a chat.

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I think I will allow you to give a little bit of a background, who you are, what you compete

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in, and then we'll dive into some more details.

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We did a bunch of research on some of your athletic career, but I'll let you give a little

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bit of insight into who you are as an athlete and an individual.

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Yeah, sure.

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So, as you said, my name is Jaden.

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I am from New Zealand.

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I am a competitive wheelchair racer.

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I've actually been involved with sports for most of my life.

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I've done basketball, hand cycling, triathlons, gymnastics.

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I was a competitive swimmer for many years, and then in 2019 I switched from being a competitive

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swimmer to now being a competitive wheelchair racer, where I currently hold numerous New

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Zealand records, and I've competed overseas, and I hope to one day reach the Paralympics.

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2028 is my goal, so a training hard for that.

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But besides my sports, I'm also quite heavily involved within my community.

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I'm on a range of national committees advocating for disability rights and for more inclusion

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within a disability space and within a wider national space as well.

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Yeah, so that's me.

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How did you first get introduced to sports, or did you have people that represented your

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disability in sports that you looked up to?

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Did you have friends that competed?

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What was your introduction to swimming or whatever sport you initially started with?

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Yeah, so I have been involved with sports.

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So I've seen sports from a very, very young age.

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My parents were involved with sports, so they kind of got me into it.

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But then also watching it on the Paralympics, it was a huge motivator for me.

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I remember going to the 2012, well when the 2012 Paralympics happened and the team came

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back into New Zealand, I remember going to the airport and welcoming them in and seeing

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their gold medals and seeing all of their achievements and watching them on TV, and it

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kind of inspired me that, hey, I could one day do this.

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And so that's when I was like, actually, let's make this reality.

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And that's when I got into my swimming, or I continued my swimming or pushed really

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hard in my swimming.

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And then I found wheelchair racing.

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And yeah, I guess from seeing the Paralympics from a young age really inspired me to push

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for that goal.

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What led you to kind of switch from swimming predominantly to wheelchair racing?

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Yeah, so swimming, for me, I kind of lost the passion.

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I mean, there was a little bit of classification issues.

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I was put in a tougher class of sport, in a higher classification than I probably should

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have, which made it a little bit hard to compete internationally.

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And then I found wheelchair racing.

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And I was like, actually, this is a sport that I can really, really enjoy.

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And so that's when I decided to make the switch.

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Do you have a specific distance that you seem to excel most at, or that you enjoy the most?

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Yeah, so for wheelchair racing, for those that don't know, you normally do 100 up to

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marathons.

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So you do basically everything.

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For me, I prefer the long distance.

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So the 5000 is my favorite distance.

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I tend to do really well in about 800 up.

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So about the 5000 and the Half Marathon are my favorite distances to do.

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Wheelchair racing as a whole has become more popular in marathon events in the States.

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Is it also have a presence in New Zealand races as well and just recreational marathons?

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Yeah, unfortunately, not.

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Unfortunately, in New Zealand, there's not a lot of wheelchair races.

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There's about three or four of us that compete.

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And so I have to go overseas to get that competition, whether it be Australia or whether it be

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Europe like Switzerland.

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There's not really many, or there's no specific wheelchair racing events in New Zealand.

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There's no marathon that adjusts wheelchair racing.

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But that's why I have to go to Australia and that's why I have to go to Switzerland.

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Hopefully one day, hopefully when I go to the pound, or as my career goes on, I can inspire

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more people to get into wheelchair racing and we can make it bigger in New Zealand.

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But not currently in New Zealand.

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It's not that big.

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Do you think traditional marathons would let you participate as a wheelchair racer?

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Yeah, so in New Zealand, there are a few marathons and some of them have been really inclusive.

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Like the Waterfront Half Marathon, I've done that a couple of times.

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Some others, it's a struggle, but overall they are quite inclusive and they try to make

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it happen, which is quite cool.

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But I am getting competing on my own because I am quite faster than the able-bodied in

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some respects in some of the races.

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And so I am racing on my own.

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So that's why I do have to go overseas to get that actual competition.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Yeah, it's something where I wonder if sometimes braces not being more inclusive or accessible

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is because of concerns from the race directors in terms of safety considerations.

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In your sense there, you were mentioning that there's not other competition for you, but

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I wonder if you would still be allowed to participate just as the only wheelchair racer.

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I don't know if that would incentivize you to do so in any way.

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For us, we run for Team Hoyt.

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So I run marathons pushing a wheelchair, pushing another individual in a wheelchair, and sometimes

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we're the only other wheelchair duo at races.

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And sometimes to me that's motivating because I like running against the people that don't

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have chairs and competing against them, but it might be a little different situation for

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you.

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Like you said, the push rims, the elite push rims are going to be faster than most able-bodied

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runners.

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Yeah.

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I mean, there are some events in New Zealand like there's the 5K event, the Night of Fives.

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It is an event that I like to do every single year where I am racing the elite, the top

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top runners.

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There's no wheelchair, I'm the only wheelchair racer that does the 5Ks.

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But being able to race the elite is pretty cool because yes, we are sort of, we used

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to be sort of around the same speed.

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And so at the end it was, you know, who's the fitter so who can get over the line first.

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Whereas now it's on can I lack them, how many times can I lack them, which is quite cool.

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And yeah, there's one of my favorite events, the 5K Night of Fives in New Zealand.

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Going back to the inclusiveness, most of them are inclusive and I do get to race them, which

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is quite cool.

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Do you know who or will New Zealand have anyone representing them at like Paris 2024, do you

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think in wheelchair racing?

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Unfortunately not.

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I think most of us who do wheelchair racing are aiming for 2028.

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The qualifying times for wheelchair racing are really tough.

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It's one of the hardest, it is the hardest classification in terms of para athletics.

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And so it does take a bit to get those times and you even see guys who are, or guys and

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girls who have a really long career, they go into their 30s, their 40s, even somewhere

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even in their 50s.

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And I'm only 19, so there's not really that much of a rush.

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I do believe 2028 is the goal.

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2028, I have high hopes for 2028.

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Yeah, just not 2024, it's a little bit too close, but definitely 2028 and beyond.

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Do you already know what the qualifying process will be like for 2028 or does it change from

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year to year?

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Yeah, I mean, the times I think potentially could change.

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It's highly unlikely.

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But in terms of New Zealand selection, I think it is pretty standard.

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You've got to make top 20 in the world or top 50 in the world for wheelchair races.

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I think I'm not quite sure on that selection at this stage, but it's pretty stock standard.

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You've got a certain ranking in New Zealand.

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I would say nobody goes to the para Olympics.

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And you've also got to make those qualifying times.

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Is the location area determined for 2028?

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Yeah, so that is in LA, I think.

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That was it in the States?

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Yeah, it is in the States.

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So I'm pretty excited about it.

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The States have some awesome marathons.

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I really, really want to do one there.

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Like the Boston Marathon, that's one of them that I've had my eyes on for since 2019 since

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I started.

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So I'm excited for that.

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I'm in Massachusetts.

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So we're about an hour from Boston here, and I'll be running Boston for the first time

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this April, so looking forward to that environment.

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It'll be awesome.

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We always go and watch from mile nine with one of my friends who has Spina Bifida and

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is an aspiring wheelchair racer.

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And so mile nine, there's a big downhill.

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So she always loves seeing the wheelchairs zip by with how fast they're going.

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And she's been a huge McFadden fan forever, so it's cool to see them compete.

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But do you think your kind of diverse background and various sports contributed to you quickly

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becoming successful with wheelchair racing?

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Like I would imagine there was a good amount of carryover from swimming to wheelchair racing.

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Yeah, definitely.

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I think swimming really brought me to that engine.

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It brought me that fitness.

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It brought me that VO2 mask that I definitely wouldn't have had if I didn't have that prior

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experience within swimming and also within my other sports, basketball, hand cycling,

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gymnastics, et cetera.

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Yeah, definitely having that extra experience has helped me excel more in the sport.

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And when I did switch from swimming to wheelchair racing, I wasn't starting from the beginning

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in terms of fitness, which really, really helped me to be able to fast track my success.

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So you are diagnosed with Spina Bifida.

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Would you be able to give the listeners like a little bit of insight into how that presents

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for you kind of like symptomatically and how it affects your motor skills and your motility?

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Yeah, definitely.

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So I have had disability all my life since I was born.

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Like you see, it's kind of a spina bifida.

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I am paralyzed from the waist down.

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I do have a little bit of feeling in my knees and above.

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But yeah, I use a wheelchair every day to get around.

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And there are a few other medical stuff going on, but paralysis is the main one.

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So I have to use a wheelchair to get around in my day to day life.

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How did that affect your experience growing up from like a school standpoint?

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Yeah, definitely.

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It affected me a lot.

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I mean, you do have kids who are really inquisitive.

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They really like to know what's going on.

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If they see something that's really out of the ordinary, they like to ask questions.

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And so when I was at school, I used to get a lot of questions.

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I used to be bullied for being different.

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I mean, everyone's different.

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You kind of just have to go with it.

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You kind of have to just ignore them, continue on your little trajectory, think about your

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goals, think about what you want to achieve and try to push those extra voices to this

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side.

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But yeah, having a disability, especially when I was younger, was quite challenging.

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But I mean, I think it's made me a better person.

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It's made me...

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I guess that's kind of why I do lots of stuff in the community.

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I don't want other people to experience the same things I did when I was younger in terms

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of being bullied, being discriminated against.

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So all the challenges I did go through have made me a better person.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Is there... I would imagine sports provided a really important outlet.

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Was it always paralympic or adaptive sports, or were you able to participate in some of

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the more, I guess you would call it, traditional sports or just with able-bodied athletes?

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Were you able to participate in sports with other populations, or does New Zealand have

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a pretty thorough adaptive sports offering?

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At school, when I was young, during like, college classes and during school sports, I was with

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able-bodied, my able-bodied peers.

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And I guess it was quite cool to be able to mix together, although it can present a lot

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of challenges, especially a lot of accessibility challenges and how that should run the event.

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Personally, I prefer to be with people like me, I prefer to race against people who have

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disabilities.

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When you talk about able-bodied and disabled together, it can get a bit challenging with

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how do you do it.

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In New Zealand, I haven't really seen it executed well or really well.

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I mean, I've seen it happen a few times when able-bodied and disabled are mixed within

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a sporting environment.

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But in New Zealand, it is quite separated.

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For most of my life, I've just enjoyed being with other people that are like me.

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Yeah, and there's definitely reasons.

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And like you said, there's probably some confidence and just relationships that you can form with

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people that have similar experiences and similar lived experiences that other people can't

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necessarily relate to.

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What does the typical training look like for you now between time in the chair versus time

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in the gym?

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Could you maybe break down what a typical week looks like?

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Yeah, definitely.

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So I either train.

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So when I'm in my chair, I either train on my rollers.

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So in my garage, my rollers where my chair can sit on and I can push in one spot.

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Or I then train on the track.

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And I do that maybe five or six times a week.

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And then I would have a gym or two gym sessions at the gym with two different structures.

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One would be focused more on strength and fitness.

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One would and then the other would be focused more on mobility and stretches and flexibility

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and that sort of stuff.

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During the season, I would spend more time on the track.

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Whereas off in the off season, I would spend more time getting my case up in my garage

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or my rollers.

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Absolutely.

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Have you found that the strength training has helped you from like a performance standpoint

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or is it specific track sessions that seem to be most beneficial?

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Yeah, so more of the strength stuff and the fitness stuff I've really ramped up in probably

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the past two months since having this extra instructor or personal trainer.

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And so hopefully in the next season, which is in a couple of months, I'll be able to

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see a lot of improvement within that.

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But yeah, the gym stuff that I do, I do see a lot of improvements within the track.

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But the different sessions I do, I do see a lot of progression between the off season

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and during the season.

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If I do the correct program during the off season, then you definitely do see a lot of

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improvement.

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Yeah, we'd like to probably assume that if you can increase your strength, then it would

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be able to increase the power that you can put into the chair and how long you can sustain

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a certain percentage of that power.

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So it's definitely a blend of the two.

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Have you dealt with any shoulder injuries or have you had to navigate anything from

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an injury standpoint?

254
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I've been really lucky in terms of injuries.

255
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I haven't really had many problems with that.

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I mean, you'd have a niggle once in a while, but it hasn't really stopped me from still

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training.

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The things that have stopped me from training would be my hospital visits, would be my surgeries.

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I have had a lot of surgeries and a lot of hospital time since starting in 2019.

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So health wise, yeah, there have been a lot of issues.

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But I mean, not a lot.

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Not too much, which is good.

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So I haven't lost too much fitness.

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But in terms of injuries, not too many.

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So I've been really lucky.

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And yeah, I hope to keep it that way.

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I mean, wheelchair races, wheelchair races, you do get quite a lot of injuries, especially

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a lot of short injuries.

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But I think if I do the right things in the gym, if I take it easy with my training, don't

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overdo it, I think I should be all right.

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But even if I do get an injury down the track, I'll just deal with it and create a plan on

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how to get back faster.

273
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Yeah, absolutely.

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So if a personal trainer, a strength conditioning coach was about to start with a client with

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Spina Bifida or a wheelchair user, how do you think they should approach that first session?

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Or what would you want to see out of a personal trainer if you're going to them for the first

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time?

278
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Yeah, that is a good question.

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I mean, I've had a lot of personal trainers over the years, and they're all really different.

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My advice would be get to know your person.

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That's really, really important.

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You don't really want to smash them out in the first session or the first couple of sessions.

283
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You really want to know how does their disability affect them and then make a plan from then

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on.

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And then also do regular checkups and be like, hey, how is this exercise feel?

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Are you sore anyway?

287
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Because you never know.

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The person you're dealing with may find something really uncomfortable.

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But then also, the biggest advice I'd have is don't be afraid to push it a little bit.

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You really want to get the best out of your athlete, and you want to get the most out of

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their athlete.

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And so just having that communication between both the athlete and the personal trainer is

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really, really important.

294
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And don't be scared to push those boundaries because when you push those boundaries, you

295
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get athletes.

296
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:41,880
Absolutely.

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Yeah, we sometimes see two misconceptions.

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Maybe is that people think that disability is synonymous with injury.

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So they tend to treat those clients like rehab or they try to, they kind of under dose or

300
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they under train them.

301
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,640
And a lot of the stuff that we want to demonstrate is like when people with disabilities have

302
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:08,880
the proper support that they're able to train just as hard as their non-disabled peers.

303
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So I think you're spot on with that.

304
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But it comes from, like you said, the communication between the coach and the athlete, getting

305
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to know them on a physical level, but also like a social emotional level, like what they're

306
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willing to tolerate.

307
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,600
Not everyone's going to be a Paralympic athlete, but that doesn't mean that their goals are

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any less than those that are aspiring for competition.

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So one of the, I mean, we see sometimes personal trainers are afraid, if they don't have exposure

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to disability, they might be afraid to like say something wrong or do something wrong.

311
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So kind of like easing into that first experience, but I would imagine that most of it can just

312
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be resolved by having conversations.

313
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Yeah, definitely.

314
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And it's also important that it's not just about what you do at the gym.

315
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,600
It's also important what you do in the day to day life.

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So whether that's creating a program that can be outside of the gym when they don't have

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those sessions.

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Because I don't believe one session a week is far enough, people in wheelchairs, they're

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already susceptible to hospital visits being very, very exact.

320
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So just continuing your plan outside of the gym is also part of it.

321
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Do you find that most gyms are accessible or inclusive, or if not, what do you think

322
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,520
they need to do to better accommodate people with disabilities?

323
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,720
Yeah, so for me, I've found my personal trainers to other people.

324
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:45,920
So I've been really lucky, but I have heard stories of people being turned away, especially

325
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:47,800
those that are part of the blind community.

326
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:53,520
I've had heard a lot of stories of them not being able to be allowed in the gym.

327
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:59,640
And I think a way to overcome that is like I was saying, the relationship between the

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00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,920
athlete and the personal trainers, it's also important to have a relationship between the

329
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:09,520
gym and the athlete on how can we best assist you to get the most out of your fitness goals.

330
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,280
And I think having that communication is quite important.

331
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:16,960
And having that openness as well is crucial.

332
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:23,720
And having those first meetings of you have the physical challenges, yes, you may be blind,

333
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:30,080
but how can we best assist you to achieve your fitness goals?

334
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,040
So openness is quite important.

335
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:37,520
So you've been introduced directly to organizations that support people with disabilities, but

336
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:43,920
I would imagine that some people, wheelchair users, other young adults with spina bifida,

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00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:49,280
they might just assume that gyms aren't for them, or they might be hesitant to go to a

338
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,280
facility where they might not be supported.

339
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:59,080
So from the gym standpoint, maybe making more of an effort to promote themselves or advertise

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themselves as inclusive and accessible.

341
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,720
But it's also understanding, I guess, what you need to do to support people with physical

342
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and intellectual disabilities.

343
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,480
Outside of sports, do you have specific career aspirations or anything that you want to work

344
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:17,200
on outside of wheelchair racing and the volunteer and the committee work that you do?

345
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:25,920
Yeah, definitely, so I'm on a number of committees in New Zealand with the main goal of making

346
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,160
a better life for those with disabilities.

347
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:34,160
And my goals for that is just to continue what I'm doing and hopefully create more opportunities

348
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,560
for people with disabilities to succeed in New Zealand.

349
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:46,720
And also not just people with disabilities, but also young people or people in general.

350
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,160
There is quite a lot of differences between those with disabilities and those who do not

351
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,480
have a disability in New Zealand.

352
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:58,400
So just to minimize that gap as much as possible isn't my goal and that's something I'm going

353
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to continue and strive to do for a very long time.

354
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:09,720
In terms of my career, I am currently at AUT University, Auckland University of Technology

355
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,400
in Auckland in New Zealand and I'm studying psychology.

356
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:20,480
And with that, I'm hoping to become a psychologist once I complete that and maybe work with young

357
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,400
people that is the main goal.

358
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,800
I can potentially become a sports psychologist.

359
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:26,800
I'm still working it out.

360
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:32,600
I'm lonely in my second year, but I think once I continue that and get further on in my degree,

361
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,440
I'll figure that out.

362
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,080
Is that a four-year program?

363
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:39,680
Is it similar to how the state's structured?

364
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:45,880
Yes, that's a three-year program actually, but I'm also going part-time because of my

365
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:52,240
sports, travelling a lot and also having been on all these committees.

366
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:57,480
So I am going part-time, which will take a little bit longer, maybe five or six years,

367
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,800
but normally it is a three-year program.

368
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:06,920
Was it switched to remote learning or did you have to deal with some of that stuff with

369
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,960
COVID or were you still in high school, I guess, at the beginning of the pandemic?

370
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:16,600
Yes, like I said, I was in high school at the beginning of the pandemic and I did have

371
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:21,920
a lot of remote work at home, which was a little bit challenging.

372
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:27,560
I think that I've heard a lot of other students probably struggle a little bit more than me,

373
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,000
but it was quite challenging being at home.

374
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:38,160
I think it made us better, it allowed us to adapt and I think if it were to happen again,

375
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,320
it would be way better at it.

376
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:48,840
Ultimately, what do you want our listeners to know, I guess, about adaptive sports or

377
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,800
supporting athletes with disabilities in general?

378
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:59,200
What can we do to make both fitness and sport more accessible and inclusive?

379
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,080
Do you have any specific recommendations or thoughts?

380
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,600
Yes, a couple of things.

381
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:12,360
The first one is just to keep in mind that not every athlete is the same and that nobles

382
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:16,800
when you have someone with a disability, so get to know your athletes, encourage them

383
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,880
as much as possible, push them as much as possible, but also understand their limitations

384
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,320
and also understand how their disability affects them.

385
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:33,840
Fitness is really important and with having a disability, it becomes even more important

386
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:39,960
and so we really need to push for what we need to promote fitness for people with disabilities,

387
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,920
we need to talk to people with disabilities and see how we can get them involved within

388
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:51,320
our programs, how we can improve their quality of life, but I think fitness does that.

389
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,280
It's just finding a way to reach those people.

390
00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:00,080
Another issue that I have found especially within New Zealand is there are these extra

391
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:06,080
barriers that aren't really being addressed as much as they can be, whether that be accessibility

392
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:17,320
such as transport or other general costs like maybe gym costs, costs to do the sports and

393
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:24,160
so there are many ways on how to limit those challenges whether it be grants, scholarships,

394
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,240
funding opportunities is also quite important.

395
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:35,200
Once you get rid of those things, especially the transport subjects, transport is quite

396
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:40,040
difficult especially if you have a family with people with disabilities and you only

397
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:46,440
have one parent which is really common to have those extra grants that they can access

398
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:51,240
but that will increase the opportunities and you'll probably get more people being involved

399
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,840
with them than as gyms etc.

400
00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:00,400
You're working on one of the committees for, was it capital projects for accessibility?

401
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,320
Or open transport.

402
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,200
Yeah, what does that consist of or what does that focus on?

403
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:14,360
So that committee focuses on how can we make open accessible and whether that's a classroom,

404
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:23,440
whether it's general buildings, capital projects, so there's two different types of committees

405
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,000
or there's two different committees.

406
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:31,960
I'm on the one that's about infrastructure so how can we make our buildings that we're

407
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:37,120
planning on making, how can we make them as accessible as possible so that when they are

408
00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:44,320
built we're not going to make as many changes as we potentially may have to make a biotech

409
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,560
in the other building.

410
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:54,080
So that great focus is mainly on infrastructure and free planning.

411
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:59,200
Are there organizations in New Zealand you mentioned, grants and funding being a barrier?

412
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,880
Are there organizations that provide support for individuals with disabilities to participate

413
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,880
in sports or fitness?

414
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:17,480
Yeah, there are a few, it could be increased quite a lot, a lot of them provide grants

415
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,400
or maybe sessions or paying coaches.

416
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:30,600
There's not a lot on funding on how do we get the person from their house to the sporting

417
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:35,400
place so whether that's with transport there's hardly any on transport whatsoever.

418
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:42,240
It's mainly in the facility, how do we get in grants so that they can participate, not

419
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:46,880
how doing it from their house to the sporting facility and that's something that I'm trying

420
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,000
to push within my community.

421
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,400
But yeah, there are quite a lot of grants out there for people with disabilities in

422
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:58,400
sports but yeah, it can be improved quite a lot.

423
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:04,120
Even if there are these grants, they seem to be quite long and that's something that

424
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,600
you can get with disabilities.

425
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,360
You've got to fill in absolutely everything about your life to be able to access the money

426
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:14,360
and so a lot of people just give up at the beginning because they can't leave other

427
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:19,200
or it's just really, really challenging and they don't have the time to provide all this

428
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,000
evidence and so that's why a lot of our grants are underused.

429
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,880
Yeah, you have to look at accessibility as not just I guess the physical space but everything

430
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,720
else that goes into participating in a program like you said, the transportation and also

431
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:37,720
the emotional support and the socioeconomic status of the individuals and how that can

432
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,400
be providing a barrier that needs to be addressed.

433
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:46,160
So those are all important considerations that aren't unique to New Zealand.

434
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:51,040
I think they're pretty consistent across and we definitely see it in the states here as

435
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:52,560
well.

436
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:57,440
But Jaden, looking forward to following along for the next four or five years as you work

437
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,880
your way to 2028 games.

438
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:05,960
Whether they're coming to the states, maybe we can make our way out that way and if you

439
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,480
find yourself at the Boston Marathon you'll have to let me know because we're not far

440
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:10,480
from there.

441
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:11,480
You can get a training session in here.

442
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,640
Hopefully I'll be running it as well so I can see you there. But appreciate you taking

443
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:22,120
the time to talk and sharing your wisdom and your expertise with our audience and I'll

444
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:27,520
include links to your pages and stuff in the show notes so people can follow along there

445
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:32,320
if they're interested but again I really appreciate your time and thanks for joining us.

446
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,320
Thank you, I've had a great time and it's been really awesome to talk to you.

447
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,160
You're an awesome guy and it's pretty cool to be able to talk to you and share my journey

448
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:58,080
and share my story with you all and I've had a great time.

