Photo Courtesy of The Department of Culture, Media, and Sport via flickr.com

Move over Michael Phelps – another FAC frequenter has become a gold medalist.

Greyhound sophomore swimmer McKenzie Coan swept the freestyle events, winning three gold medals at this summer’s Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Coan won her first-ever gold medal in the S7 50 free, followed with more gold in the S7 400 free and S7 100 free. The junior also picked up a silver medal with the 400 free relay team.

“I am so excited for my first major medal to be gold. It is absolutely insane,” Coan said. “My coach and I work on sprints all the time. Every single day, we do something off the blocks fast and that really gave me the confidence to go out there knowing I could do that.”

Coan set a Paralympic Record with her winning time of 32.42 in the 50m freestyle.

Loyola head swimming and diving coach Brian Loeffler also sent junior Greyhound Alyssa Gialamas, Navy veteran Brad Snyder, Lizzi Smith, and Cortney Jordan, Loyola University Maryland M.A. ’16 and 2010 World Champion.

In the S7 400 freestyle final, Coan beat training partner and longtime inspiration Jordan by almost 13 seconds. The two teammates finished first and second at 5:05.77 and 5:18.20, respectively.

“Teammate-wise, my biggest motivator is Cortney Jordan,” Coan said. “Just the fact that I get to come here and train beside her every day is incredible because growing up, when I first got into [swimming], she was my role model. I looked up to her, I still do.”

In her second Paralympic games, Gialamas landed 10th place in the finals of the S5 100 free, finishing fifth in her heat at 1:37:15.

At the end of competition, Loeffler’s five athletes won a combined 14 medals: six gold, six silver, and two bronze.