The heart & soul of Dame Sophie Pascoe

Compassionate, gracious, not to mention gorgeous – Dame Sophie Pascoe radiates the resilience you would expect from someone who built their life and career proving just how wrong stereotypes can be. Metropol editor Nina Tucker caught up with our most decorated athlete on motherhood and the word ‘retirement’.

Dame Sophie’s dream was always a colossal one – yet it didn’t stop her from achieving it. “My proudest moment is knowing what I’ve been able to give to the sport just by doing what I love,” she reflects. “Having a disability doesn’t define me. It’s breaking those barriers and showcasing to the world that we are worth everything, like our able-bodied peers around us.”

She faced a bigger barrier than most in her career. “I’ve got the double whammy, right? I’m a paralympic athlete and a female paralympic athlete.” In 2018, she was a driving force behind securing pay parity for para athletes winning on the world stage.

Ensuring that equality for the generations after her was essential. Since her entry into high performance sport, Dame Sophie has witnessed a world of change in appreciation and support for female and para athletes. She closes her case with a statistic: our New Zealand Paralympic and Olympic teams for Paris 2024 had the most females ever on both teams, and the most medals won were won by females.

The Dare to Dream programme Dame Sophie established with her longstanding commercial partner with who she is an ambassador, Westpac, showcases that the road to success is not a perfect pathway – but it is possible. She travels countrywide to share her story with young people and encourage them to dream big amongst all the tricky, confusing influences of today. “I just want to be a positive part of their lives.”

The negative side of media and social platforms make that unity crucial. “We see a lot of online bullying. It’s really hard for this next generation coming through, so if they see the role models and the female athletes uplifting one another, it’s a real power tool when we band together.”

STARTING FROM SCRATCH
“It’s a funny thing, the word retirement,” Dame Sophie reflects after concluding her competitive career. For most, retirement marks the end of a working life. “But for me, it doesn’t end there. I didn’t come from a career that afforded financial independence at the finish line, where I could simply say, ‘Right, I’m done.”

Since she hung up her swimming cap in January, the Paralympian has been trying to figure out what’s next.

The focus, first and foremost, is being a mother to her son – but that doesn’t

mean there isn’t pressure to “continue bringing in an income” for her family. Dame Sophie remains on the Swimming New Zealand Board, and her connections within High Performance Sport NZ and Paralympics New Zealand continue to offer fruitful opportunities. Curiosity persists – is there more to Dame Sophie’s next chapter than what she’s always known?

Finding fulfillment is her new focus now she doesn’t have a training regime determining her every day. “I’m starting completely from scratch.” Dame Sophie entered the world of high performance sport at age 12, where she was given a team and bountiful resources for guidance and direction. “Now I need to source my people to fit a team for what’s next. It’s quite an adaptation,” she says.

Forever in Dame Sophie’s team is husband and structural engineer Rob Samson and their 15 month old son, two people who fill her eyes with delight. “My priorities have shifted. I want to be there for my family and my son.” It’s no small feat to juggle motherhood and find something within the workforce for a passion she’s never had time to pursue.

An incredibly daunting prospect, it’s lucky Dame Sophie is familiar with not knowing what the future holds. She was two when her father accidentally backed over her with a ride-on mower – Dame Sophie would adapt and turn this tragedy into triumph. Before each race on the world stage, she would stand in position and wonder whether the next few minutes would be medal-bearing or not – the weight of a country on her shoulders. Like I said, Dame Sophie is no stranger to a stressful thought.

“Right now, I’m dabbling in a little of everything to find what I absolutely love and want to do day in, day out,” she shares. Knowing exactly the strength it takes to be successful, “I’m going to give what I gave to the sport, to my next career.”

Dame Sophie laughs – her goals these days “probably seem very small compared to having a dream as an eight-year-old to go to a Paralympic Games and win a gold medal.” It’s exactly what she’s after though – “A part of me craves not being in a high pressure environment.” For two decades, it consumed her. “I want to be able to have the balance of being a mum, being a wife, being there for my family and friends.” She admits balance is a concept we all strive towards, “but we do have to be realistic.”

“Adaption and not having control is certainly what motherhood is about,” Dame Sophie says. Leaving a 20-year tenure of maintaining a strict, consistent routine and mostly having constant control, it can be “really challenging” – despite which, she’s grateful the juggle is testing her in
new ways.

Retiring from her post as one of New Zealand’s most successful athletes doesn’t mean she can finally sleep in. “I’m still up quite early, actually. Earlier than when I was swimming,” Dame Sophie laughs. Parenthood is relentless in the most joyful way possible for her and Rob, between nap and feeding schedules. “He loves going out and seeing animals,” she says of the beautiful moments spent with her son, who makes an adorably welcome appearance during our conversation. “I have him going to preschool now every other day, just so it allows me the time to start working on the things I have going on in the background,” she adds. When their little one is at home, it’s “full noise”. “Our life is hectic. Chaotic. It’s fun. It’s the busiest I’ve ever been.”

You can understand why she finds using the word ‘retired’ unusual. “Swimming got all of me,” – 20 years of giving her heart and soul to one thing. “Now I’m literally all over the place, there’s parts of me everywhere.” She explains how mothers the world over feel on a daily basis – and Dame Sophie has to do it all with the nation wanting to watch.

With Rob’s Fijian heritage, the trio often escapes to warmer weather for family visits. “Our biggest value for both of us is family, so we’re making sure that [our son] gets to spend that time with both sides of the family.”

Putting her platform to good use, the legacy Dame Sophie hopes to leave is of the same ilk as every other dream – winnable.