Setting A Gold Standard

McKenzie Coan, ’18, was only 16 years old when she competed in her first of four Summer Paralympic Games for Team USA. That experience, held in London in 2012, laid the groundwork for a swimming career on the international level, which so far has included seven Paralympic medals—four gold and three silver.

It also served as her initial introduction to Loyola. Head Swimming and Diving Coach Brian Loeffler, ’91, served on Team USA’s coaching staff in 2012, and Greyhounds swimmer Joe Wise, ’15, was teammates with Coan in London.

“I’ll never forget the way Joe’s face lit up when he talked about Loyola,” Coan said. “After returning home, I started having conversations with Brian about what it would look like if I came here. I told him my goals: to be on the podium in 2016, and to swim for a Division I collegiate program while receiving a great education. He said, ‘If you give me everything you have, I promise I’ll give you everything that I have, and we can make that happen.’”

Coan would ultimately achieve all three of those goals. She won four medals, including three golds, at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she was a four-year letterwinner on the swimming and diving team, and she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Coan returned to Baltimore last spring, serving as Loyola’s 2025 Commencement speaker and receiving an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

Reaching the podium capped an athletic and academic journey that began as an infant when Coan was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. That condition led to countless hospital stints as a child—and more than 100 broken bones throughout her life—but it also spurred a determination to not let her disability define her.

Coan’s time as a student allowed her to excel at the highest level internationally while also fulfilling her dream of swimming collegiately. Loyola’s impact on Coan, though, extended well beyond the pool. She names Loeffler and the Rev. Timothy Brown, S.J., as lifelong mentors, and she credits her professors for their endless support and flexibility when she was off campus for extended periods to compete.

“I expected to get a great education and become a great swimmer at Loyola, but I think the biggest blessing, and the thing I didn’t expect, was how much it would transform my entire life,” Coan said.

The Loyola community raised me, and I take the same values that I learned there with me every day in my life.

Helping others has always been a priority for Coan. While still in high school, she founded Kenzie Kares, a nonprofit organization providing support to young children facing extended hospital stays. Since then, she has used her global platform to serve as a leading advocate for disability rights.

While her competitive drive remains—she aims to qualify for a fifth Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028—Coan is also looking to further her education, considering pursuing a master's degree before starting law school in the future.

“I started seriously ramping up my training in the water again this summer,” Coan said. “My time at Loyola, with four years on the national team, college swimming, and academics on top, has definitely prepared me to keep trying to challenge myself.”