Eleven-time Paralympic gold medallist and four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sophie Pascoe has been recognised with a damehood as part of the New Year's Honours list for her contributions to swimming.
Pascoe kept the honour secret from her family, until now.
The 28-year-old swimmer has kept her cards close to her chest before the big reveal on Friday morning.
"Traditionally, we all head to Golden Bay and we love reading the paper first thing in the morning... and from previous years, especially around New Year's Honours, it's exciting to see what amazing Kiwis we have in our country and for them to be named in the list is exciting to read and see what they've done," she told 1News.
Dame Lisa Carrington and Dame Sophie Pascoe are two of the most high-profile names on this year's list. (Source: 1News)
"So I've got a bit of a plan to let them find out and that's how I want it to be a surprise because it's a nice moment for them to see what their daughter has achieved and now, I guess Dame Sophie Pascoe."
Dame Sophie said the honour "hasn't sunk in yet" and it was difficult to wrap her head around the fact she was to become a Dame.
"I still see myself as Soph or Sophie, so the Dame doesn't change who I am as a person, it won't change who I am as an athlete going forward and I have my values and those stay with me. I carry them every day with pride and honour."
In 1995, a two-year-old Pascoe lost the lower part of her left leg after her father Garry accidentally ran it over on a ride-on lawnmower.
It was a moment that devastated the family, but Pascoe said this recognition was one that would be especially important, not only for her, but for her father.
"He lives with that [accident] every day and I change that image for him when I race and now this damehood will change the image of that accident once more.
"It could've been such a negative for us and we turned it into a positive for my family. I want to keep making my parents proud and others around me proud."
Pascoe made her international debut aged 13, winning a bronze medal at the IPC Swimming World Championships. Two years later she won three gold medals and one silver at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
On the back of that performance, she was recognised with the New Zealand Order of Merit at the New Year's Honours in 2009.
At the 2012 Paralympic Games, she secured three gold medals, in the 100 metre freestyle, 100 metre butterfly, and 200 metre individual medley events, setting world records for the latter two.
She also won three silver medals in the 100 metre backstroke, 100 metre breaststroke and 50 metre freestyle. She achieved a further three gold and two silver medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games, setting a world record in the 200 metre women’s individual medley.
Pascoe has won 17 gold medals across four World Championships. She won gold in the 100 metre breaststroke and 200 metre individual medley at both the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
She has been named Disabled Sportsperson of the Year on six occasions at the Halberg Awards and was named Para Athlete of the Decade in 2020.
Pascoe is a role model in the disabled community and Paralympian movement, and an advocate for equality and changing perceptions of people with disabilities.
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