The Adaptive Athlete Podcast
The Adaptive Athlete Podcast is dedicated to sharing the stories of athletes in the Crossfit space and beyond who have pushed past the limits doctors or others gave them.
In these conversations, you'll hear stories of resiliency, adaptation, grit, and determination. You'll also hear about the ways the adaptive space is growing.
Whether you are an adaptive athlete, a coach, or you know someone who would benefit from adaptive athletics and adaptive fitness, this podcast is the place to hear stories and build connections.
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Episodes
67 episodes
Adapt and Overcome (Feat. Oscar Jessup)
Mat Hotho sits down with Oscar Jessup, a 17-year-old adaptive CrossFit athlete from Australia who placed third at last year's Adaptive Games in Las Vegas, complete with his now-...
Curiosity and Humility (Feat. Brian Knight)
Mat Hotho sits down with Brian Knight. Brian was born with a brachial plexus injury. He won a silver medal at the 2025 CrossFit Games, and he's one of the OGs of adaptive Cross...
An Unexpected Detour (Feat. Kieran Healey-Ryder)
Mat Hotho sits down with Kieran Healey-Ryder, a Glasgow-based adaptive athlete navigating a rare, progressive skeletal disease that's slowly taking the use of his left leg.
Three Things on My Mind (Feat. Mat Hotho)
Mat Hotho takes the mic solo for the first installment of a new format: personal episodes between the interviews, where Mat tackles the ideas and conversations he keeps having about adaptive fitness off the show.After a lap through two t...
Shoot With Intention (Feat. Bruce Williams)
Mat Hotho sits down with Bruce Williams, the photographer and videographer behind Dope Content and the person responsible for most of the imagery you've seen coming out of the CrossFit...
Comfortable Being Uncomfortable (Feat. Lauren Taylor)
Mat Hotho sits down with Lauren Taylor, gold medalist in the Neuromuscular Moderate division at the 2025 CrossFit Adaptive Games. Lauren walks through the long road — a bro...
Adaptation Has Taught Me Creativity (Feat. Sam Fishman)
Mat Hotho sits down with Sam Fishman, the founder of AnyBody & EveryBody and a full-time adaptive ...
Coaching and Leading as an Adaptive Athlete (Feat. Christina Mazzullo)
Mat Hotho sits down with Christina Mazzullo. Christina is a CrossFit Games adaptive champion, affiliate owner of CrossFit Tar Heel in North Carolina, and newly minted R...
All Movements Are Adaptable (Feat. Nigel Barber)
Mat Hotho sits down with Nigel Barber. Nigel is a UK-based adaptive CrossFit athlete and founder of Wodaptive. We have an h...
Wait! They Run Like Me?! (Feat. Leo Merle)
Mat Hotho sits down with Leo Merle for a conversation that covers the full arc of what it means to build a life around the things you love. Leo competed at the Paris 2024 Paraly...
Cerebral Palsy, Parasailing, and the CrossFit Open (Feat. Adam Billany)
Mat Hotho sits down with Adam Billany, a British adaptive athlete competing in both parasailing and CrossFit. Adam was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at around age two; it affects both...
If You Can See It, You Can Be It (Feat. Natalie South-Law)
In this episode the Adaptive Athlete Podcast, Mat Hotho sits down with Natalie South-Law, a UK-based adaptive athlete with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy who has competed at a s...
Why Not Me? (Feat. Jacob Peterson)
Mat Hotho sits down with Jacob Peterson, an adaptive powerlifter from Alabama living with mild cerebral palsy. Released during Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, Jacob talks about the s...
What It Actually Takes to Be Inspiring (Feat. Aaron Trent)
Mat Hotho sits down with Aaron Trent, a former para cyclist who placed second and third at the UCI Para-Cycling World Championships in 2009 and spent two and a half years ...
Have Fun, No Regrets (Feat. Shana Coissard)
Mat Hotho sits down with Shana Coissard, a French adaptive athlete with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome who's carved out an impressive path through wheelchair basketball, CrossFit, and adaptive...
A Championship Mindset and the Brother Behind the Scenes (Feat. Lance King & Kyle King)
Mat Hotho sits down with Lance King — three-time CrossFit Adaptive Games champion in the Intellectual Disability without Chromosomal Condition division — and his older brother
The Power of Being Different (Feat. Julia Halberstam)
Mat Hotho sits down with Julia Halberstam, who competes in the Upper Two Point division and placed second at the 2025 CrossFit Adaptive Games. Their conversation starts with the hilarious story of how they met at the 2024 Sea Dog competi...
Why Winning Wasn't the Point (Feat. Luke Reeson)
Mat Hotho sits down with Luke Reeson, a former British Army sniper who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was shot three times across two deployments—including twice in the legs during his final tour. What followed was a journey fr...
Everyone Is an Athlete: Adapting the Open for All Abilities (Feat. Sarah Tucker)
In this episode, Mat Hotho sits down with Sarah Tucker, founder of Uncharted Adaptive Fitness Virginia, to explore the transformative power of Adaptive CrossFit. ...
It's All Kevin's Fault (Feat. Brandon Mantz)
In this episode, Mat Hotho sits down with Brandon Mantz, a seated athlete who secured a third-place podium finish at the CrossFit Games for four consecutive years. Brandon shares the story of his "pivot point" in December 2018, wh...
Fund Your Season: A Simple Framework (Feat. Candice Arnone)
Candice Arnone joins Mat Hotho for a practical conversation about fundraising and sponsorships for adaptive CrossFit athletes without the awkwardness, guilt, or “I’m asking for a handout” mentality.Candice is a Neuromuscular Major adapti...
From Competitor to Commentator (Feat. Amy Bream)
In this bonus episode of The Adaptive Athlete Podcast, Mat Hotho is joined by adaptive athletes Amy Bream and Brett Palser for a wide-ranging conversation on competition, community, and the evolving landscape of adaptive fitness.A...
720 Laps and a World Record (Feat. Mike Egan)
In this bonus episode of the Adaptive Athlete Podcast, I sit down with wheelchair athlete, coach, and new dad Mike Egan to unpack his 24-hour Guinness World Record attempt at Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio. Mike wheeled 152.36 miles on the ...
Gaslighting Your Own Body (Feat. Letchen du Plessis)
South African adaptive athlete Letchen du Plessis joins the show to talk about her journey from a scholarship netball player to an adaptive CrossFit champion. After a hip injury led to CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) with dystonia,...
From Empty Room to Competition Floor in 14 Days (Feat. David Needham & Kevin Carlson)
In this episode, Mat Hotho and Brett Palser sit down with David “Cowboy Dave” Needham and Kevin “Cowboy Carl” Carlson, two of the key figures who make the Adaptive CrossFit Games possible. They pull back the curtain on what it takes...
