Title:
Dana Mathewson’s Road to the 2024 Paris Paralympics – Wheelchair Tennis

Subtitle:
From Transverse Myelitis Diagnosis to Wimbledon Champion – Dana Mathewson’s Inspiring Path to the 2024 Paris Paralympics

Transcript:

Alycia Anderson: Welcome back to Pushing Forward with Alycia. I’m Alycia Anderson. Our next guest journey is a powerful reminder that dream chasing fueled by immense competitive drive and consistently With the theme of the podcast, pushing forward to be literally the best in what she does can turn to gold among so many other things in life.

I met her when she rolled her beautiful, adorable wheelchair onto the tennis court in San Diego, back on Barnesville.

Tennis program. That’s what I remember. She is a two time Paralympic athlete headed to Paris literally right now,. She is a Wimbledon champion. She is a two time gold medalist Parapan American games awardee. she is the top ranked American woman in wheelchair tennis. And she’s the first American woman wheelchair tennis player to have a Grand Slam title and the first American to compete in all Grand Slam events. . She at age 10 was diagnosed with transverse myelitis and recently has tied the knot.

She’s a newlywed. She’s a dog mom. She’s got a doctorate degree in Audiology. What have you not done?

Dana Mathewson: Oh, gosh. I don’t know.

Alycia Anderson: Dana, welcome to Pushing Forward with Alycia. I’m so excited that you said yes. It’s so good to see you. Congratulations on all of these unbelievable accolades. Not surprised by

Dana Mathewson: you. I’m just so excited just to chat with you. Like it’s so cool. Who would have thought when you met me when I was what, 13, 14, that we would be sitting here on a podcast, your podcast later here together and I would be a guest. Like I would have, this would not have been on my bingo card.

Alycia Anderson: me either, but I’m actually not surprised because you always had that like shiny bright star chasing look in your eyes

Dana Mathewson: that means a lot to me.

Alycia Anderson: So can we like look back in the rear view mirror for a minute? Can we talk a little bit about your diagnosis? Whatever you’re comfortable with and kind of the transition of your life way back when.

Dana Mathewson: Yeah. So I, like you mentioned, I got transverse myelitis when I was 10 years old. Um, prior to that, I was a completely quote unquote normal. However, people want to use that terminology, but I was an able bodied, very healthy kid. And I was a big soccer player. I remember that at the time that it happened, I was running sprints and then my back just went into extreme pain.

I had no idea what was going on. I thought maybe I pulled a muscle, something like that happened to me. And then. Um, in a matter of hours, couldn’t move or feel my legs. And so transverse myelitis is just a fancy way of saying that my immune system thought something was going on in my body for some reason and attacked my spine and that there was swelling that occurred as a result of the attack.

More or less. And then that left me with a lot of nerve damage and that’s why I use a wheelchair now. So, um, yeah, my life changed in literally the blink of an eye. Yeah. It was a really hard transition, I would say. Like when you think back to when you’re 10 or just like a preteen, especially as a girl, and I’m sure this applies to boys too, but want to look like everyone else.

You want to have the same clothes as everyone else. You want to, um, you know, not stick out like a sore thumb. And unfortunately, as I’m sure you can relate to growing up using a wheelchair. A lot of times you feel like you stick out like a sore thumb because a lot of times with other physical that everybody has, there are ways to hide it and there’s no way to hide a wheelchair.

There’s just not. Um, and that was really hard. I think that I was very lucky that I had a very supportive friend group. I had a very supportive family. Um, so I was never bullied in that sense. Um, I know that that’s not the case for everyone, so I’m very lucky that that wasn’t my situation, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t still feel very insecure in my body. that transition was hard, and I think that’s why I gravitated so much to sports, because they made me feel good about myself again. They made me feel like, Oh yeah, I have a disability, but look what I’m doing with it. And then, now I’m here talking to you.

Alycia Anderson: , unbelievable. So, let’s talk about tennis for a minute. tennis, I believe, entered your life around the age of 13. Like, How did that happen?

Dana Mathewson: So when I was in the hospital, my mom. So lucky for my mom. I would not be talking to you here as an athlete today if it wasn’t for her. but she went around and she found out about all the different sports that I could participate in, in a wheelchair. And she came up with ideas like rugby, basketball, archery, like all these different things. And I remember hearing about it and I was like, yeah, no. Like, that’s, a joke, right? Like, I never heard of it. why would I go and play sports with old people? Like, I had never seen a young person that used a wheelchair. And, and I have to say, I’m embarrassed to say it now, but any. Any person with a disability that I had seen before also maybe had a mental disability as well. And there’s no shame in that, but I knew that at that point, I didn’t quite fit in that category. So I was like, well, is that what all disabled sports are like? I had no idea that the Special Olympics was a thing, that the Paralympics was a thing. I was so uneducated. so for me, I was like, well, that that’s not for me.

And I felt like I didn’t fit anywhere. And my mom was like, well, no, you’re going because this is for people like you and she signed me up for every camp under the sun, much to my, um, anger. Rugby was the first one I tried.

I remember thinking it was so cool. Like I remember just zipping around the court. I remember being hit and flying out of the chair. And I was like, God, this is fun. then tried basketball and that was fun, but it didn’t really. You know, like the fire that much and then tennis, just for whatever reason.

I remember the first time I played, it was in Coronado. There was a camp that was put on by a bunch of the national coaches and Karen Corb was there. I think Sharon Clark, some past Paralympians. And, um, I picked up a racket. I met a bunch of kids that were just, they looked like me. And that alone is powerful, right?

Seeing people. That look like you is huge. And so that already, I was like, Ooh, this is exciting. And then picked up a racket and, and it just clicked. I don’t know.

Alycia Anderson: And seeing the Karen Korbs and the Sharon Clarks of the world, they were my coaches too when I was young. And, to see powerful, strong, fit women, Specifically, it’s a really big deal from like really believing what you can do as a young kid. I remember

following Karen Korb around, like, wanting to be her, so

Dana Mathewson: I remember she met me and she had all, you know, she always smelled so nice and her hair was always perfect and she had lip gloss on. All the time. And she had, um, like all the bangles and necklaces. And I was just so taken by her. I was like, what is this unicorn that I’m looking at? Cause I’d never seen it, you know?

And like you said, she was physically fit and she was beautiful. And she was, she used a wheelchair and I was like. Wow. These are things that I have never seen together, but they’re beautiful. And she just really piqued my interest. And she’s definitely a change maker for me without realizing. I think how much impact she had on me.

She had a massive impact on me in that those one or two days for sure.

Alycia Anderson: Oh, that’s so cool. Me too. you mentioned your mom, like, can we just lift her up for a minute? For me, like, you two are one in the same, like, I don’t, I think this is one of the first interactions that you and I have ever had without her present.

Like, she’s,

Dana Mathewson: And it’s crazy. This is the first podcast I’ve done where the podcaster knows my mom.

Alycia Anderson: Can we lift her up just for a moment and give her the time that she deserves because I know how impactful she was for you.

Dana Mathewson: Oh, my mom’s everything. so just going back to when I, I had my injury, I leaned on her a lot. My. My dad wasn’t really in the picture from when I was maybe nine or so, and so my mom was more or less a single parent, which is stressful enough, but makes me admire her so much. And then she’s also a pediatrician.

So when I became injured, I really leaned on her to. me figure out what was going on, you know, like nothing made sense. And I knew that she actually is trained to know medical stuff. So I was like, okay, mom, what’s this? What are they doing to me now? What’s this procedure. And so that really brought us close. that’s not to say that we don’t fight. Like when my teenage years, I think because we were so close, we fought a lot. But she likes to say that we’re like the Gilmore girls. But no, she’s everything. She, she never made me feel like, a disability was any reason to be seen as different or less than, if anything, she’s always saying she forgets that I have a disability.

And I think that when I first got home from the hospital, it was frustrating because I almost wanted to be babied a little bit, but she made it very clear that I was still the daughter that she had a month before I went into that hospital and I was going to be the same athletic, goal setting, very academic kid that, that she had birthed, you know, 10 years prior and, and she’s really set the bar high for me in that way.

But I think been probably one of the greatest things that she could have ever done, I would have never aspired to do half the things that I have if I didn’t have a role model like her. it’s interesting. It’s so cool to hear you talking about her being at my matches growing up, because in the recent part of my career, I’m traveling so much now and she works. So she hasn’t been able to watch me play. I think the last time my mom really watched me play was maybe seven or eight years ago, but she’s coming to the Paris Paralympic games and so she’ll be there. And that’ll be really cool to have her watch me again. I’m nervous to have her watch me again, if I’m honest with you, but no, she, she’s a big reason for pretty much everything that I’ve done.

Alycia Anderson: she’s going to be your good luck to bring home gold.

Dana Mathewson: You better be. Otherwise I’ll send her back. I

Alycia Anderson: her. And, um, you have to tell her I said, hello. I, I just have the best memories of her and I grew up without my mom. So I just remember sitting next to her and so many matches going. She’s just such a beautiful, loving, caring, wonderful women. And you’re so lucky to have her. I wanted to lift her up for a minute. Um,

Dana Mathewson: have her listen to this and she’ll love it.

Alycia Anderson: I was diving into all your little documentaries and like for the listeners out there, go to Dana’s website. We’re going to leave everything in the show notes.

there was , a short documentary that I think you did with Deloitte but you talk about your competitive drive and how that has kind of been one of the things that has driven you to you.

Reach the heights of greatness that you have. Can we talk about your competitiveness a little bit?

Dana Mathewson: Yeah. I I’ve been this way as long as I can remember, you know, I, I don’t know if it comes from being, the baby of the family, you know, having an older brother that I’m always trying to, to win out at games with, whether they be board games or, you know, sporting achievements, because my brother was always just like, That perfect kid, like he picked up a sport and was good at it, or he was always a little more well behaved than me.

And so I think there was always that little feeling in the back of my mind, like, Oh, I want to be better than him. And then that probably. Transpired into me being competitive in a structured sense in terms of sports, but I’ve always been that way. Um, you don’t want to play board games with me, but no, my family does joke all the, all the time that I’m like a football player. Running the ball for a first down. down. If I still don’t get the second down, I’m going for a third down. I’m going to try to run the ball and I’m going to try to kick it.

I, I very much am a problem solver and I’m someone that likes to try to make things work if I really want something. And I think that that has served me. Very well in tennis because it’s a game of constant problem solving I think it’s it’s serving well in life and especially having a disability I’m sure you can relate we live in a world that’s not designed for us, right? So you’re constantly problem solving and adapting for things so that And I think that that’s kind of translated into my, my personal life, my, my competitive life, my professional life and yeah, competitive all the time.

Alycia Anderson: And you’ve, you can see that with your accolades and the wins and you climb in the ladder of being this elite athlete. That is number one in the United States. Like winning gold medals, winning Wimbledon. My God, um, how, how do you get there? What, what was the, what was the North star? Like in this like competitive drive, was there one or was it just like trying to chip away at the next goal?

Dana Mathewson: That that’s what it was for me. I think I’ve never been that person that. You know how to think of a good way to describe this, there are some people that have a vision board and they’re like, do you know what? I’m manifesting this, say with the Olympics and Paralympics, it’s a gold medal and someone has that on their vision where they look at it every day and they speak it into existence and that’s how they are. I’ve never been that way. I think that I’ve never had that one huge lofty aspiration and everything has to ride on that aspiration. , I think I’ve, it’s just been kind of like a snowball type of journey for me. So back when you knew me, that was when I embraced tennis as something for fun and something that I could do to move around and that I loved and, um, just seeing how capable my body still was. And it was addicting. It was fun.

Right. And then. Um, before I knew it, it became something I could go to college for. So then that took me to college and then that took me to playing more professional tournaments. And then that took me to trying to qualify for a games. And then that took me to trying to medal at a games and getting medals and winning bigger titles. Um, but I’ve never really had that one lofty North star guiding situation. It’s always just kind of been like, Oh, that seems kind of cool.

Let me try to do that. I like having the achievable wins. The scale can change the better you get at your craft, so for me, I try to set little goals so that I can win every day. So, when I go to practice, I’ll set a goal for myself that I want to accomplish, whether that be, I want to work on my chair skills today and just that. So that means that even if I hit 70 horrendous forehands where my chair skills better, good, I won or I’m going to empty out my emails today. Just little things like that. So I think it, I like to have a mixture of like the big goals and the very achievable small ones. Cause the small ones actually feel really good too.

Alycia Anderson: You’ve had a ton of these milestones Is there one that is the most memorable

Dana Mathewson: A lot of people think that it would be winning doubles championship at Wimbledon. And although it was a major title and that is incredible to say that I’m on the walls of Wimbledon for the rest of my life is insane in the best way. As of late, the one that I would recall most is winning the gold medal in singles at the Pair of Hands in November last year. I wanted that so bad. I was like, I want to win that thing because I knew it was a direct entry to Paris, but also I just wanted it. I wanted that gold medal so bad. I knew that. So a Pair of Hands for people that are Not super familiar with the difference between like regional games and the Olympics or Paralympics is it’s a basically it’s a mini version of the Paralympics or Olympic games. So, for the Pan American games or the Parapan American games, it’s just all of the Americas competing. But I was like, I can do this thing. I want that gold medal. And so there was a lot of stress around that time because I got married literally seven days after that match.

I wanted it so bad. And I remember it, that match went to three sets.

I played against Angelica Bernal, who is just a force to be reckoned with hits the ball, like huge. She’s so good. I remember I threw my racket. I like immediately fist pumped. Dristen, my husband was there. The coaches were there. Like it was the best.

Alycia Anderson: I’m so happy for you. Oh my God. You talked in some interview about the power of Paris sports and the comparison that sometimes it gets to traditional able bodied sports.

before audiences come and see it and how, it’s such a powerful, way for the general public to see what is possible to start believing not only in the path of. the sport but also believing in the ability of , disabled people and what we can actually do.

Dana Mathewson: If, if we just think in a very general sense, like sport is what everybody looks to is like, wow, that is the peak of being physically fit, being capable, being able. And so I think that’s why for me, like going back to what my initial answer was about finding wheelchair sports or adaptive sports, I was like, well, those don’t fit together. I think that it’s so important to use sport and parasport as a platform to educate You know, I haven’t met a single person go and watch a, a wheelchair tennis match or a wheelchair basketball game or, para swimming or any sport and not go like, whoa, that’s actually really cool, you know, or, and sometimes you get those, taboo type of comments where they’re like, oh, wow.

I bet even you could beat me. And I’m like, yeah, I know. I definitely could. Like, it’s my job. Like I’m professional. I don’t care that you can run on your feet. Like I’m going to beat you. But. But it’s even those tiny little comments. Like, you know, that you’re making an impact cause they’re like, wow, you’re actually really good.

Do you know what I mean? So yes, it comes with some backhanded compliments, but it’s shaping a narrative a little bit.

Alycia Anderson: I love about the backhanded, just really quick though. What I love about the backhanded comment is your like stroke back is yeah, I could beat you.

Dana Mathewson: It is inspiring, right? So I, I think that Para sports are changing the narrative in a lot of ways. And, and I think it’s, it’s something that I hope takes off more in this country because I would say that we’re one of the most behind. terms of accepting para sports, people with disabilities in general. I’m very lucky that in tennis, my job takes me around the world to, and I’m, and I’ve seen a lot of different cultures and how they embrace or don’t embrace disability. And living overseas in London, it was night and day. I would say that our country is the most physically accessible, but we’re the least, emotionally, mentally, culturally accessible place of, of most of the places that I’ve been. And so I think that’s why it’s important that you and I are talking today, that That my story is getting shared by someone like you.

This is amazing, right? Um, the fact that you do what you do, we need more voices like that. We need more change and more things like Para sports to help elevate those messages because our country needs to see it.

Alycia Anderson: When I lived in Belgium, it was like super inaccessible, but the general society was more open to it all,

Dana Mathewson: oh, absolutely. But the, you know, living in, in the UK, everybody knows about the Paralympics. They have an entire channel dedicated to the Paralympic games. people watch it. Um, I was just over there this summer and people came up to me and I, it was like a pinch me moment. They were like, we bought tickets just to watch wheelchair tennis. I would have never thought that that would have happened in my lifetime. And so it shows that there is a market for it, that able bodied or disabled populations love it. And I think that’s really cool that, that people are embracing it. And I can’t wait for that to make its way over where we are.

Alycia Anderson: And congratulations for being one of the ones that’s leading that, I want you to number one, like what’s the North star? Like what, what are we, I’m sure it’s gotta be Paris right now. Like what does the future look like?

Dana Mathewson: yeah, so in my immediate future, it’s Paris, so as much as I said, I don’t have, you know, dreams of a gold medal on my wall or a vision board is definitely the thing in my sights right now.

I think that sports has helped change my life in so many ways. And I think that someone that has the privilege that I do, I like giving that back, like that really excites me.

So we have a lot of new juniors, for example, that are coming through, through our junior pathway at the USTA and training there. And love getting to like have sessions with them to work with them. Like my partner in Paris is going to be one of our , Aspiring juniors. She’s actually, I don’t know if she’s aged out of juniors now, but Maile Phelps, um, so in a grand scheme, I care about giving back, educating, things like that. But in the very immediate future, yeah, I want a medal.

Alycia Anderson: So metal in the immediate future. Do you want to just talk for a minute about how important the partnerships are for you and, and what you’re doing?

Dana Mathewson: Oh, they’re amazing. I think that, well, for one, as an athlete with a disability, and I think you can, you can attest to this. It’s incredible that I can make a living with sponsorship deals, with endorsement things as an athlete. That would, that would be unheard of 10 years ago, right? All the sponsorships would go to someone like a Simone Biles or a Michael Phelps.

They wouldn’t go to someone like me just because I use a wheelchair. So that alone is incredible, but I think that, you know, any, any endorsements or partnerships, they go towards fueling my career and they go towards on a bigger scale, helping me send that message out about. People like you and me, what we’re doing, how capable we are being a change maker, things like that. And, and if I can use my career as a pathway to do that, then so be it lucky to do it.

Alycia Anderson: Okay. This was such a great conversation. Um, when we wrap up this podcast, since it’s called pushing forward with Alycia, we like to have a pushing forward moment,

Dana Mathewson: Okay.

Alycia Anderson: Can you gift away a little something that inspires you?

To our community to fly away out of this episode with,

Dana Mathewson: Sure. , one of the quotes that I try to think about is, chasing butterflies. But I, I read somewhere saying that like you have to chase butterflies cause good things usually happen from them. And whether that be from going on that first date with someone or setting a goal for yourself to schedule that interview for a job or, you know, sending your resume to someone or signing yourself up for a sports camp or, you know, it doesn’t have to be a huge lofty thing.

It can be anything. But I think that, um, one of the best. piece of advice I got reading that quote was just to chase butterflies. And it’s true. Like every, every big moment in my life or every big accomplishment or every accolade I have has come from being nervous to no end or having those excited butterflies in my stomach.

So I think chase butterflies. That’s my advice.

Alycia Anderson: Ugh. I’m taking it because every time you say it, it sends chills up my back. I love it. Dana, thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. I really appreciate it. I’m so excited to launch this while you are killing it on the tennis courts in Paris.

Dana Mathewson: Thank you for having me. This is such a cool full circle moment.

Alycia Anderson: It is a cool full circle moment. Thank you for your time, Dana. And thank you so much to our Pushing Forward community. This has been Pushing Forward with Alycia. And that is literally how Dana and I roll on this podcast. We will see you next time.