Today we’d like to introduce you to Cole, Chase, & Genevieve Rohner.
Hi Cole, Chase, & Genevieve, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Cole, Chase, & Genevieve are 15-year-old triplets, born extremely premature, at 28 weeks gestation. They had a laundry list of medical complications at birth and a very low chance of surviving. Yet, they all survived, and are not only living but thriving.
Cole had a stroke immediately after birth, ultimately necessitating 13 brain surgeries. He has had 22 total surgeries and has eight diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, autism, and hydrocephalus. Chase had severe breathing complications after birth and almost did not survive the night. He was so fragile we could not talk next to him. Genevieve also had breathing complications and has four diagnoses, including cerebral palsy and autism.
Triplets were certainly a surprise to their parents, especially at 40 years old. Once they got past the first few years, which were filled with medical appointments, hospital stays, and therapy, they decided the best thing for the triplets would be sports. The only rule was to pick a sport and finish what they started. Each of them fell in love with what they wanted to do very early on.
As a figure skating coach, their mom put them all on the ice at age two so they could learn and skate while she taught. They all performed in local skating shows and did some beginner competitions. They were never told they had to be competitive, but they all gravitated to competition. When the family moved from California to Utah, the triplets were eight. Chase decided he wanted to skate again, after trying tennis and soccer, and began training with a coach in Utah who is a former Team USA ice dancer.
Any time Chase competed, Cole competed in Adaptive skating, and he too began focusing on skating more. Their mom has to skate with him to hold him up, but he is a natural performer and truly connects with audiences. In 2019, Cole and his mom performed a duet in Sun Valley, ID. The video from that performance went viral with over 3 million views. In 2023, Cole earned his fourth national gold medal in Showcase Adaptive skating . He also participates in adaptive dance, and adaptive baseball, and has been a patient ambassador for Shriners Hospitals for Children for six years. As an ambassador, he participates in events that promote and support Shriners, including giving speeches.
Genevieve began riding at age four after Cole spent six months in a Hippotherapy clinical trial. She gave up skating at five, immediately deciding that horses were her life’s purpose. At nine years old, Genevieve was officially classified as a Para-Equestrian dressage competitor by U.S. Equestrian, a formal evaluation process allowing riders with similar disabilities to compete in a level field. She has been the youngest in the U. S. since then (2017). At 14, she was eligible for international competition and became the youngest in the world when she competed in her first international event. She remains the youngest in her classification category globally. In 2020 at 12 years old, she competed in her first national competition, won her group and was overall 2nd place among the competing emerging athletes. The boys followed with gold medals from their respective national skating competitions within 11 months. Since then, Genevieve has earned several U.S. Equestrian awards, including 2nd place for the 2023 USEF National Youth Sportsman’s Award, and being named to a Team USA competition team at age 14. Her goal is to become a Paralympian.
Chase competes in Ice Dance and earned his second national title in 2023 in Intermediate partnered dance. In 2021, he earned the 4th place medal with a previous partner in Juvenile ice dance, and in 2021 also took gold in his National Solo Dance event. With both the 4th place medal and the gold medal this year, Chase and his partner earned an invitation to the U.S. Figure Skating High-Performance Development Team Camp. He is a member of the Park City High School wrestling team as well.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Having one child is a lot for most people. We had not planned on more than one. The triplets were a surprise! It was difficult to have three babies in two different hospital NICUs, 45 minutes apart, for three months. Between all the surgeries and appointments, visiting the babies at odd hours of the day and night to make it all work, and trying to get any sleep at all, it was a very rough start. It took about a year and a half for us to get into a routine that made sense and gave all of us time in the day and night to rest. Once the kids started school and began learning independent skills it became slightly easier.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At 15, the triplets are focused on school, sports, and the future. They are all committed and enthusiastic about their sports, two of them with elite sports dreams. As parents, we had to rid ourselves of all expectations once we found out we were having triplets. Any idea of doting on one baby went right out the window. That turned out to be a huge blessing. Having no expectations, because we had zero idea of what raising triplets would be like, was the best thing we could have done for ourselves. As former nationally competitive athletes, we knew the value of sports physically, mentally, and socially. So, we decided that our main rule for the kids would be that they had to do a sport. Once we got past the first few years of medical difficulties, we shared this with the kids. We told them they could be recreational, skill-building, or competitive. The only caveat was that if they wanted to change sports, they had to finish what they started before changing. They all chose to be competitive and chose their sport early.
We laughed trying to figure out why they all chose competition. Then we realized that they had seen both of us compete as adults and watched videos of us competing as youth. While we never told them they had to be competitive, they somehow absorbed that and ran with it. As written above, they have succeeded thus far, and are great at setting goals and moving themselves forward in their chosen sports.
It’s surreal to consider the possibility that we could have two international competitors in the family, and in their teens. All we ever wished for them was health. First, they lived. Then, they started sports. Now they are solid humans with bright futures and huge goals they intend to achieve. My mama’s heart is filled with gratitude and hope as we watch them navigate life and eventually become adults.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
As parents, we are elated that the triplets survived. Watching them pursue their dreams in life is more than we imagined, considering they almost didn’t survive birth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPXZ71LlCp/, https://www.instagram.com/gr_paraequestrian/, and https://www.instagram.com/coleadaptivesk8/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThirtyFingersandThirtyToes
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/sRQkd0KNqHA?si=CG3FBpoeemKuBiIy
Image Credits
13 triplets teens (PC Joy Conneally Photography), Genevieve’s photos: Deborah Hickey/Glide Far Photography, and Lexi Rohner
