Candace Cable and Erin Popovich

Recorded November 2, 2019 Archived November 2, 2019 41:21 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: ddf000419

Description

Candace Cable (65) speaks to her fellow United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame classmate Erin Popovich (34) about their experiences competing in the Paralympic Games, and the fight for equity and equality in their sports.

Subject Log / Time Code

CC describes her introduction to wheelchair racing in 1977 and paralympic downhill skiing in 1988. EP shares her path to swimming, starting at age 11, and her family's support.
EP speaks about her swim team experience in high school.
CC speaks about the equipment and technological advancements in her sports, and the ways she and others would bend the rules of the sports in the early days in order to challenge the regulations.
CC speaks about the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and how developments in sport lead to improvements in daily life, for some. EP and CC discuss the spectrum of disabilities people face, and how they can be representatives for these people. CC speaks about equity and authentic representation.
CC speaks about teaching others about disability through the lens of aging and embracing the human life cycle. CC and EP speak about "inspiration porn" and the importance of honoring people's experiences in the fight for rights. CC discusses her advocacy in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
EP and CC speak about the ADA, it's shortcomings, and the need for able-bodied people to see their stake in it. CC discusses intersectionality, allyship, and the erasure of people with disabilities in other struggles.
EP speaks about Paralympic visibility changing in recent decades. CC and EP speak about the upcoming Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and how the presence of the games can change a host community. EP and CC share their hopes for the future.

Participants

  • Candace Cable
  • Erin Popovich

Recording Locations

Broadmoor Hotel

Venue / Recording Kit

Partnership Type

Fee for Service

Transcript

StoryCorps uses Google Cloud Speech-to-Text and Natural Language API to provide machine-generated transcripts. Transcripts have not been checked for accuracy and may contain errors. Learn more about our FAQs through our Help Center or do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

00:02 I'm Candace cable. I'm 65. Today's date is November 1st 2019. We are in a Broadmoor Suite in Colorado Springs, Colorado and it's pretty sweet sweet and my partner is Erin Popovich and our relationship is it will both parallel and we just became classmates for the 2019 Hall of Fame.

00:32 I was a paralympic athlete in the sports a wheelchair racing downhill skiing cross-country skiing. I competed in 9 paralympic games for summer and five winter. I was a metal is 14 * 2 of them are in Olympic exhibition events. And my placement in my event is all over the place. I said I have to say

01:03 I'm Erin Popovich. I am 34 years old today to the date is November 1st 2019. We are in the beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado and I'm here with Candace cable who is a fellow 2019 inductee to the usopc Hall of Fame.

01:22 I'm a paralympic swimmer. I competed in the 2,000 2004 and 2008 paralympic games in swimming where I 114 golden 5 silver.

01:40 All right, so I'll I'll start us off today kid is so looking forward to this and just hearing more about you since I know we're fellow classmates, but we haven't had a lot of time to interact with each other because we're all over in the world. So

01:58 You've been involved with politics sports for a very long time. But how would you accurately describe each of the sports that you were involved in?

02:08 I have to say to him pretty excited by this. It feels really intimate and and I'm a storycorps fan. So this is one of those highlights or I'll play if I ever write a book. So my words that I got involved with first. I wasn't an athlete before I had a spinal cord injury in 1975 at the age of 21.

02:36 And as I was going to University, I wanted to meet other people with disabilities at Disabled Student Services, and I have some sports were being invented at the time in about 1977. One of them was wheelchair racing and I was hanging out with the people that were inventing the sport. So I became part of a small group of people in the US and there is people in there in Europe that we're doing this to evolving the sport of wheelchair racing into well from our 50 lb stainless steel Everest and Jennings wheelchairs.

03:13 Are dinosaurs into the Sleek little mini Dragsters? I like the, now that are three wheels and they just look so fast and they are so it was social to get involved with this part for me with wheelchair racing and I need to be connected to other people like me and then in 1988 after a perilous very successful prolific games for me in the summer a friend of mine said, hey, they've got this for downhill skiing. I bet you'd be really good and I had tried skiing just before I had my spinal cord injury and I really liked it. But I figured I was never going to do that again. And so I went up to Truckee Tahoe California and took 2 weeks of lessons sets time I m o i immersed myself into things like I was like this and I was good at it right away because I was a good athlete already. So I think

04:13 That's a great crossover when you're already an athlete it something that it's easier pick stuff up. It's already have that mindset and I fell in love with it. I was going through a divorce at the time and I need to relocate so I moved up to the Truckee Tahoe area and lived up there for 25 years and took up downhill skiing and skied one paralympic turn with that in 92 and switch to cross country skiing cuz I really like the robic sport which is similar to a wheelchair racing and competed in Paralympics with that. So that was my path. And yeah, I know it's it's it was a

04:54 I wanted to ask you a question about this because

04:58 Any sacrifices you felt like that you made when you were competing because

05:06 I think the lot of people talk about sacrifice and I never I personally never felt like that. It felt like a path and I want to hear from you because you started so young. I want to hear Ali have happened. If you feel like you made sacrifices, I think with everything in life. There are sacrifices that we are either conscious that we're making our subconscious and for me, I was fortunate in that when I started I was actually said I was really late to the sport but I was still 11 years old and figuring out how to do more than the doggie paddle, but I think and I have to contribute so much to my parents when I was younger is that they really didn't pressure me into becoming an elite athlete in in swimming when I was young. It was more just fun and do it. But I was going to do the sport of swimming they were going to hold me accountable to it to so I'm sure there's times when you know, I would have much rather gone and hang out with friends or do you know the after-school stuff but

06:06 But swimming was a priority for me, but

06:10 Growing up. I did all all of the sports and I was we are soccer family every weekend. We drive all over the state of Montana traveling to soccer tournaments with my brother and sister and and so for a long time our whole family was soccer and they just have to give that up when swimming kind of took over and I sell more potential and future in that but then as you know, as you guys are up I was in high school still swimming and then moved on to college and I think for me I was surrounded by a lot of people who had the same goals and dreams his myself. So it didn't always feel like a sacrifice in terms of what I was giving up because the people around me were of similar goals of mindsets, which was very helpful. But then at the same time there is, you know, there's a lot of whether it was a family function that everybody got together to hang out and you know, I either had a meter or something else going on that so I couldn't be there so there was some of the

07:10 Sacrifices that I know my family sacrificed a lot for me in order to make me

07:15 Be able to go to swim meets. I mean, it's so me turn out the most wild and crazy thing to watch on your Saturday and Sunday, but you know that they made sure that I got to where I needed to go. And so that was so I think whether we realize it or not, we're we're always making sacrifices. It's just how much

07:38 Emphasis, we we put on that in can we maybe?

07:43 Take that opportunity to make it more, you know later whether it's with family and making the time that you do have more valuable. And so I think it is fair is that I think we're it's hard to say like, I don't think there is one specific thing. But when you have a goal or you have a strong will or mindset I think some things you just have to change and adapt and that becomes sending or yeah, I agree with you on that the change and adapt did you swim with your high school swim team and with your dwarfism that you were born with did that affect that at all? So for me, I grew up in Butte Montana very small town and I went to a small high school and so my freshman year, I think it was myself and one or two other girls that were the school swim team and we actually partnered with the other High School in town for practices and everything. And so I did swim.

08:42 Freshman year, I believe in Jesus as part of the high school team and then for us it was just going to be me after that for the remainder you're so I just stayed with a club team instead, which was that the same pool. So for me, it was interesting. I got to go and swim at the meats and stuff. But I think it was just I looked at a lot of these opportunities is just more opportunities to gain experience in that every race is a little bit different and there's never going to be anything that's identical. You know, it's a pool, you know, that the pool was there, you know that there's going to be officials and call rooms in the snap but there's always the unpredictable so I kind of took it as an opportunity to be able to race and compete wherever I could so that I gained that experiencing you learn to take the outside factors and learn how to deal with them. So so that was kind of I didn't get a whole lot of high school swimming experience, but at the same time, you know,

09:43 Swimming is an individual sport as much as it is a very much a team sport. And so I think for me and you know, I could swim in my lane and race against the clock more than anything in this High School Mason and that became a drive for me to really low lower the bar with x.

10:03 All right, so you talked a lot about

10:08 The track and field and how when you are after your injury or fortunate to be surrounded by people who are really kind of inventing in creating the supporters is can you talk a little bit how you think the technology with especially a sport as track and field wheelchair racing but even in Nordic has changed throughout your time when you first started and now I mean, it's it's incredible what they're able to do nowadays. Yes. The equipment is especially the three sports that I competed in is essential right? There was always this feeling that you didn't want to get beat by your equipment. I didn't fall apart or you were behind on the technology and so me a cuz I started so much at the beginning. I was a part of a group of people in Southern California, and we created a little team called the Southern California fires and we would

11:09 Mess around with our daily chairs to see if we could make them lighter, but there were some rules on the track that you still had to have certain things on your wheelchair one was push handles, which did it makes any sense at all, but it was part of the rulebook write it so we had to begin to do things that would challenge the rule book to advance in technology. So we would race with cutting the purse handles off but we attached them someplace else because they were still there and then they saw how ridiculous it was and so that kind of things and then there was a breaker.

11:56 Who coupled with Brad Parks who really invented wheelchair tennis with Jeff and John Chambers and then Mary Wilson Vogel as well as Eric walls got together and they created a company call Quadra and they were the very first lightweight daily chairs which helped the evolution of our racing chairs. So the four of them were mad scientist in the garage cutting up metal and Welding things on and creating these lighter chairs that we could use in our daily lives. So we were moving away from the 50 lb Harris cuz those are the first church tried racing and then we started to change the shape of those and so we started out with four wheels just like a standard wheelchair cuz I use a wheelchair for mobility. And so we had eight inch wheels on the front of the regular 24 inch wheels on the back and we made the push ring smaller to see if we could create more speed with a smaller push ring.

12:56 I used to push that we all right. So we would go smaller a little smaller and then we started getting a little bit bigger Wheels on the front of the chair that we were trying to race in and then we started to realize that four wheels wasn't that stable because all of us were starting to do Rhode races. We were jumping in 5K and 10K is a marathon and there was no wheelchair division. So we got together for an international wheelchair road racer club that was across the country inn and from people from you and we created guidelines and rules for race tractors to integrate wheelchair divisions into road races. And once we started working with them and we started getting in road races, we started going faster than we did on the track. We started to realize how unstable are four wheels were but the rule said you still had to have four wheels. So we started building these chairs that

13:56 Three wheels with the little tiny tiny wheel attached front 4/4 wheel and then steam going down the road doing some of these things and I think a lot of non-disabled people didn't even notice really but we all were making me laughing and making little jokes about it cuz we had to use for Wheels, but we're going for 3 and we realized we Wells was way more stable. And so that was the metamorphosis of the three wheelchair and then the front end started to get extended as well as a little steering device that

14:35 Was super complicated in the beginning to try to control the front wheel with the way that the road so roads are our roads are crowned the water will run off of it and road races running races wheelchair division are in the road. So what will happen is that the chair had going down the road wanted to go towards the curb all the time. So someone was using their outside to try to keep going straight to invented these little devices called steering devices that would keep the front wheel stiff so that it wanted to go straight and we could have just that with a little lover and eventually that got drafted for the track because the faster we went around the track the more centrifical Force One to throw us out and to create equity and classes because they were trying to combine as they always are with our classes and paralympic Sport as they needed to we needed to create something that was going to create that equity and that everyone could use

15:35 Be able to hold the turn as well as the straight without trying to use your body to do it so that technology do it. So that was pretty massive. That was that was a massive change for the track and it it actually we went from eight classes on the truck before I had the privilege of being a part of that that advancement and I think the technology in sport and wheelchair racing I'll talk about change the technology of our daily charged to an access. Yeah, and I think that it also contributed to win The Americans with Disabilities Act was being pushed forward. I think our sport in our advocacy and support was a contributor to the overall advocacy of our our civil rights that were being developed in in the 1998.

16:35 Yeah, and yeah, it was it was super cool. I bet there were there was there was some Strife, you know within that advocacy groups because of end times people would say well you athletes don't really represent disability and it's part of the human life experience for it is yes, there's many individuals here than the United States with some varying degree of physical impairment a disability. And I know that they're there is severe disability is there's minor dispute others. There's the full spectrum of individuals. And so I think it's very interesting that they use that and I spoke to that because I think we have disabilities, but we're promoting life over our disability and so it's just it's interesting how people

17:29 I've recently had a similar conversation of well, you don't really understand because you're not a typical dorf because you're you know, you're very athletic and I'm very blessed to be athletic but just like it in the, able-bodied OR average world, you know, there's the full spectrum of of athletes with in that realm as well and not everybody's not every male is going to be the Michael Phelps or you don't Carl Lewis or or any of these phenomenal athletes that we do have but there's a wide range of I think that's what helps push forward Amor hopefully, you know centralizer equal way of of promoting, you know, the things that we are trying to accomplish and I'm trying to move forward whether it's you know, the Disabilities Act of 1990 or or you know, some of the programs that we have out there even today and we're showing

18:28 And we're very blessed that we are both phenomenal athletes and you accomplished so much as well and I'm blessed with a great career as well. And so I think you know, you have to push push the margins of what what athletes can do and what no matter if you have a spinal cord injury or you're an amputee or or any of the athletes with disabilities. There's there's really a whole nother world out there. And and so we want to continue to push it forward and I think that's honestly one of the awesome part about sport is that it's such an equalizer but it promotes, you know, so much positivity and camaraderie and you know, there's it's an Avenue for kids to get out and play sports and interact with others that they may not have seen or known about before and and and it's as we continue to move forward you're not seeing commercials with athletes playing in wheelchairs and

19:28 A realtor basketball or other sports? And so it's really incredible to see just how much you know athletes and Sport can transcend across a whole nation and even the world. Oh and I love you know what you said and and the you know the rift kind of direction that we're going because there is no traditional representation of a human being there isn't and the way you said that was so great and and it really is about creating Equity right? Whether it's for women or people of color African Americans lgbtqia plus people with disabilities anything it's it's really about I think and you started you said it so well-to-do is that it's about authentic representation of that what the human life experiences and and in the teaching that I do around understanding disability one of the

20:27 They try to get across to the people mostly teaching or non-disabled people that are trying to learn about it. So they can create integration and inclusion in whatever area of beard employment or in sport or they they don't realize that disability is a human life experience. We will all have that. We are all go go that direction because if nothing else aging if we're blessed to live long enough aging is going to get us one way or another forever yummy GoodLife, which of the two of the ones that I think most people can identify with and an Embrace that as this experience that is a part of the the human life cycle as you said before and and so in those early days when there was this kind of back-and-forth where they would say. Oh, yeah. I do super Crepes you, you know inspiration porn you don't represent.

21:27 As we would say exactly what you said is that we do represent and there is this wide range of The Human Experience and and that's why it's important to really embrace all of it. And I remember when this is more recent the convention on rights for persons with disabilities the United Nations document human rights document that was written and then started to be signed in in 2008. I think or 2006 that before that disability was not mentioned in any human rights documents other than a condition we weren't individuals. We weren't people we were objects. We weren't subjects and that was also present in our human rights are civil rights documents from the 1960s in this country people with disabilities were left out of those. So that's why the Rehabilitation Act was rich

22:27 504 and and that's why Ada came forward. I mean lots of Advocates say that's our imagination Proclamation basically says yeah people with disabilities have right, but when those crpd the convention on rights of persons with disabilities with signed in there was a lot of work to try to get our Congress to ratify it. And so one of the organization's us International Council on disability came to me and said we want to use athletes to try to get the word out because you all are very visible you're kind of sexy to and people of the battles. So we we talked about it and I put together a group of athletes and we went to Capitol Hill with all the other Advocates and we started banging on the doors of our Senators and representatives to see if we

23:27 Take me with them to talk about crpd and ratifying and we were the only group that got meetings with senators and representatives. The rest of them were staff meetings because he wants to are metals & R metals were the platform to get in the door and I think his was Italy. So the last thing last night that said about kicking the door open or we kicked It Wide Open we did we pushed it wide open and we got to get them to listen and when the final vote started to come down we ended up not getting ratification by only five boats, which was so close and we're only we are one of four countries in the world. Now that hasn't ratified that human rights document that's really based on our Ada. But so, you know the the idea that we have as athlete something to offer that

24:27 Is different

24:29 + 10 add to the I don't know the quilt is human quote, right? Yeah is really really powerful and I think now and advocacy especially with disabilities movement. I think people are starting to realize that and yeah, it's all the other sports but then I mean in terms of legislator, wow, like the politics, I mean, I wish you could just say this is we need to do this and this is how it's going to be done. But right I guess that's not how politics work is we are well aware of who didn't today ciety, but I think it's so crazy to think how simple language that in today's world. We don't even really consider as needing to call out.

25:23 + early because I mean we're here today and I don't I just see you as a person that you was a wonderful woman in a wheelchair. And so I think it's

25:36 Fascinating to see how people have moved so much further forward in life and interacting with people and in their daily lives in the new Norm yet. We still have these old doctor and zoom and legislator that says that don't even really recognize us yet, but I'm sure that hopefully it will be something that's coming. Oh my gosh yours mine blower for you. So just before the Americans with Disabilities Act was written and signed by our president.

26:09 AR Congress exempt themselves from it really all right. Yeah, there's not an accessible bathroom on every day for doorways are sometimes too narrow to get to or get through into offices because they've don't have to do it and I think that's one of the issues that I think I have a problem with the Americans with Disabilities Act and and don't get me wrong guy. I'm super grateful for it and I and we can change it. Yeah, and we can change that right? That's we can make amendments in those kind of things. But one of the things is that doesn't have a lot of teeth and a lot of non disabled people in this world don't understand how it personally affects so they don't get that disability is a human life experience and we need to create Equity. We need to create access for everyone cuz you going to need it.

27:08 You're going to need it. You're going to need it. You're going to eat it. You just wanted to know why it right now and and I think in the forcing of people to do things, there's resistance, right? I said that you got to do this change. It change is difficult and change takes a lot of work. It's ya if we wanted to change something and it was easy then man would be all over the board. I think the change takes a lot of work I think so and I think we can take some of the work out of it when we realize our personal stake in it. Right? I think that when we realize the change is actually going to be a really good thing for us, then we're more amenable to do it. Right and we have a more a bigger stake in it. I mean, I think you know when I think about discrimination in this country, I think about people of color and racism and our

28:06 Are systemic systems that are dividing us that exist and how important it is to be an ally for people of color, even though I'm a white woman and I have privileged because I'm white that I discovered that it's important for me to become an ally for people of color to dismantle racism in this country and the systems that promote racism and so that's what I want other people to do for disability in the movement is to become an ally for us to and see where our Steak'n is. I'm not a person of color and so

28:49 I can ignore it if I want to the racism in this country. I have that privilege and I but I don't want that privilege. I want to have equity for everyone. So so that's what I'm hoping is that people will be able to also see that we need to Ally with each other and also within the different marginalized groups that we have in this country.

29:13 I think include us with disabilities into their their work because again you said change is hard and it is and so people who are already marginalized see and feel the hardness of things and they look at disability like including us it is from my perspective of things is a hard thing to do to include us and it isn't that hard to include us and so many people with disabilities that are apart of the different groups are left out of those groups and and and we really would be so much more powerful if we were in it together and I think that's a great point of a lot of times it's simple fixes and I think we're often have blinders up there we think of it is that we're going to make this change. It has to be this Monumental change and that's going to take a lot of work and it's going to take all of this, you know, whether to change the legislature its changes.

30:13 In the work environment is changes in this when it can be as simple as putting a ramp in and providing access or offering at least one accessible, you know bathroom. So I think it's often times change is hard but let's figure out the changes that are possible and that can be accomplished as opposed to saying. Oh my goodness. We've got a tear down the school building and start again because that you know, this one thing is off, but I think if we continue to strive forward and that tennis leads me into the next thing that I would kind of would like to bring into because we're at a very critical time right now in terms of the paralympic movement here in the US and we are gaining so much momentum in terms of the visibility and what we are able to accomplish here in the US at me when I started and paralympic sports 21 years ago. I mean, I didn't know what Paralympics Sports was. It wasn't I mean yes, I was

31:13 Montana but there wasn't that visibility. Where is now we're seeing advertising with paralympic athletes were seeing Paralympics in the news media. And I think we are I think one of the greatest things and in your part of this with la-28 is what we can do between right now and hosting the games in it seems like so far off in 99 years, but it's really the way that mods go in the way of the games go it seems like it's, you know, not that far away, but I'm really excited and you have such a vital part of the la-28 games and vice-chair of the bed. I was vice chair of the bid to bring the game still Los Angeles. So I had the opportunity to really be at the Forefront of learning about actually how that happens. No, it's Iowa City and ITC.

32:13 And all the nuances that go with that and and also how the paralympic narrative really hasn't been built into the fabric of that piece fitting. And then now we have a contract with the ioc and IPC that any City that bids for the games will put on the Olympics in the Paralympics, which is not something that was in the past. I mean, my first paralympic games was in 1980 and in 1980, we were just beginning to have that conversation of in the same venues in the same city after the Olympic Games with you the paralympic games will that year? The games were in Moscow and the Soviet said they didn't have any disabled people.

33:01 How they were going to hold the Paralympics. Yeah, right. Love you forever. People with disabilities were either put in institutions or destroyed and we really only started coming now in the mid-twentieth century of Institutions. And so so where we are now with that contract is really cool because it says if you do this you will you will do this and I like to think that when a city holds the games does there's inclusion access almost by osmosis right now. He has absolutely right. They're going to have the paralympic games. They have to think about this if they do even if they've never thought about it, right and it had opportunities to really showcase and emphasize. I know in Tokyo for the games next year. They're saying that they didn't have enough accessible hotel rooms in his net. And so it really puts emphasis on a greater issue within a country and I'm bringing

34:01 Lucas to an area that needs to be changed or updated and so it's really incredible to see how you know bringing a games at hosting a games. Yes. There's the sports and there's the fun and there's a rivalry in competition which is all great, but it's really been impactful to see especially in the last couple games of how much it can when done correctly how much it can change a community and a country in an area that they put the Olympics Olympic and paralympic venues in and really how much it can Revitalize an area. I happen to be dressed in London for the world championships for swimming and I was there in 2012 is working on staff and it was so exciting to see we went and found the village and walked around it and it's full of life and it's packed with stores and then I must have knew that that's what the village was. You wouldn't know any different because it's such a great area and they really

35:01 Changed the the East End the East End which which is incredible to see and I think as we continue to move forward, it gives an opportunity to 24 cities that host the games to really put emphasis on on changes that need to happen. I know this is people of LA are talking about transport Transportation issues, So can we provide that better and more efficiently and so it gives I think a lot of ways to stepping-stone her starting point of a conversation that may be far more bigger than the games but it's at least is bringing notice to those areas and you can really help out the the communities they go in but I mean personally, I'm so excited that we're going to be hosting another games here in the US as a little little young for Atlanta, but I still watched, you know on TV and and Sons so stoked but I'm also super excited.

36:01 For how much it's going to change the way we look at athletes and people with impairments and how much we're going to see you no more inclusion. And I mean, we're already starting to see it but there's going to be it's going to be a lot easier is I guess what I'm hoping in terms of, you know, when a parent has a a child with a disability or an adult has an injury that leads to disability, you know, they're not going to have to do all the research to figure out what their options are, but they can say hey, I'm going to go play basketball at the gym down the street cuz I can Ryan and so that that's a lot of the positive things that I look forward to.

36:43 In the next couple years ago and the social impact you're so right. The social impact of sport is massive and the social impact of paralympic sport is extraordinary. If we are able to put it together the thing they did and the thing we all need to do is educate we need to educate around the experience of disability and and also and what it what it takes to be able to create inclusion and have those voices all the voices. I mean, you know, there's some things about oh, you know, we need to sit at the table and a voice and all these things and I'm a superfan of the cochlea verse and those who know know what that means if I Patrick Coakley said something to me once is we need to build a new table, right? Everybody needs a seat at the table. We need voices at the table, but we need to build a new table and it needs to look different and that's my hope for for paralympic sport for

37:43 Play 2028 for you know, just the movement of accessed inclusion and equity for all people is that we build this new table that creates an opportunity for everyone to come in just as they want to authentically and be able to bring forward with their narrative is and then it's considered without prejudice, you know without judgment and and that we continue to do it with compassion and kindness and bring that forward because because I think now in this in this world that we have I think that there's

38:22 A really cool opportunity for sport to raise and Elevate that kind of voice and it's been doing it. I think again like we we talked about osmosis, but I think with intention and really good education and then the people that have something to say brought forward and put in leadership. I think that we as human beings who created of an environment in the world. It's going to be a place where people want to be right. It's such a big thing, you know, but if we can get into the schools and we can show kids from an early age, you know, I think a lot of times we get the points the stairs that this to that but it's from kids of curiosity because if I'm not exposed to it, how do I know about exactly and I think that's one of the great opportunities that I see happening in a lot of school and Educational Systems is that they're bringing

39:22 Paralympic ER adaptive Sports in to school so that kids can see it and see how much fun it is and so different and yet at the same time very similar it is and you know, the kids are the future if we can educate young and then that empowers them to be able to make you know, decisions and help lead us it's really incredible to see and realize that we all we all have a stake in the game. No matter if we're Able Body disabled you name it, but everybody has their part. Well, I teach you understanding disability courses and I have a program that I put in the school's called disability to possibility and I'll tell you every single time I teach this stuff.

40:04 We can about a third way into it and people start disclosing their own disabilities. They've been hiding and it removes some of the shame and the feelings of isolation that people haven't and I I totally agree with you that education and in the schools is so important and I'm really looking forward to the future and oh my God has been such a conversation taking such a part of not only sport but I mean here in the US of what athletes are are facing. So it's this one also, but yeah, and you do know I'm 65 3434. I mean you are young leadership that is going to take us to that next elevation and and I'm so looking forward to all of it and just sharing any men.

41:04 If I can, thank you.