Wednesday marked the start of the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, with the games being played in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Wednesday also marked the start of the third Paralympic Games in which ONU swimming and diving coach Peggy Ewald has served on Team USA’s coaching staff.
Ewald represented Team USA as a coach in the 2008 Paralympics, held in Beijing, China, as well as in the 2012 Paralympics, held in London, England. This is her 12th year coaching American Paralympic swimmers, and she has coached in more than 20 international championships during that time.
“It’s a passion to be in this sport and it’s a passion to watch these athletes realize their dreams and represent our country on that world stage,” Ewald said before leaving for Rio last Friday.
Ewald and Team USA trained at the University of Houston for nine days before their departure.
This is her second trip to Rio, as she went in 2007 to coach Team USA at the ParaPanAm Games. It was her first event as a head coach for Team USA.
Four of the nine coaches on this year’s Team USA coaching staff, including Ewald, coached together on that trip to Rio in 2007. Now, after experiencing 12 years and two Paralympic Games together, Ewald said before her departure that this would likely be a sentimental experience for her and her colleagues.
“This is now our third games’ together, and there’s a huge amount of cohesiveness between us,” Ewald said. “It’s exciting to go back.”
Ewald has worked her way up to being a “Level III” coach on Team USA, which is the highest rank of coach. This means that she is considered a ‘game coach,’ as she is qualified through her experience and knowledge in swimming, as well as her work experience with able and disabled athletes.
While Ewald has had unparalleled success in her 12-year career at ONU, winning OAC titles in all 12 years on the men’s side and in seven years on the women’s side, she has also had experience in working with disabled athletes.
Ewald coached Paralympic swimmer Elizabeth Kolbe, who would eventually graduate from Harvard University and Stanford Law School, at Tiffin Columbian high school in 2003. She also coached Amanda Everlove, a current sixth-year ONU pharmacy student and former Paralympic swimmer, in two Paralympic Games (2008 and 2012).
Ewald said that coaching Paralympic athletes has allowed her to gain perspective as a coach.
“It certainly challenged me to rethink what I thought I knew as a swim coach,” Ewald said. “You have to make adaptations and figure out what it is the athlete has that they can work with, and then you have to apply what you thought you knew to what they actually have to use in the water, and you make those adaptations.”
Ewald is coaching swimmers with great variations of experience at this year’s games. Hannah Aspden, who was born with congenital hip disarticulation and has no left leg, is 16 years old and is competing in her first Summer Paralympics. Meanwhile, Cortney Jordan, who has paralysis in the left side of her body due to cerebral palsy, is 25 years old and is competing in her third Summer Paralympics.
For Ewald, some of the enjoyment of coaching in the Paralympics is seeing the evolution of individual swimmers over the years.
“We have about six athletes who are in their third or fourth games, so we know a significant number of athletes from the past 12 years who have continued to be at the elite level,” Ewald said. “What excites you the most is being able to watch them to continually reach their dreams and their goals.”
The 2016 Summer Paralympics will run through September 18. NBC and NBC Sports Network are broadcasting at least 66 hours of Paralympic coverage from Rio during that time, the most ever for the Paralympic Games.