Leaping to London 2012

I went to a Paralympic talent search after watching Australian Story on a woman attempting to qualify for the Beijing Paralympics. The talent search identified certain sports I may excel at due to factors such as height, weight, arm spam and fitness. I decided to try rowing since I love the water and had seen many friends try it at school.

I learnt to row in July 2008 at my local club and I instantly feel in love with the early morning rows. You get to watch the sun and people rise around you. You can smell the coffee brewing from the houses and hear the increase of traffic around you. It is amazing to see and hear the world wake up. After completing a learn to row program I moved clubs to my university club (UNSW) and competed at University Games for rowing. The competition was amazing and it opened my eyes to the world of competitive rowing. I was hooked!

I needed to improve my technique so I stepped up my training to 4 - 5 on water sessions a week (waking at 4:30am) and 5 gym sessions a week (cardio and weights). This shocked some people at first, especially my parents, as I was a novice rower and had basically increased my training to that of elite rowers. I wanted to improve and that amount of training is required to improve quickly. I entered into local regattas and after under a year of rowing had won over 15 first place medals. From here I nominated myself for national team selection and went to the National Championships in Tasmania in 2009. Here I won two silver medals (one in the single and one in the double); the girl that had beaten me in the single was intellectually disabled not physically disabled and that means that I was actually the fastest female sculler with a physical disability in Australia. From here I was asked to go to selections for the Australian Team and was selected in the Adaptive Four. This boat is a disabled boat with four rowers (2 men and 2 women) and a coxswain. All four rowers are physically disabled and I am the only person on the Australian Adaptive team with Cerebral Palsy. My category (LTA) means I can use the sliding seat like any abled bodied rower, but there are many other categories for people with disabilities that affect them more than mine affects me.

At the moment I am in Poland for the World Rowing Championships where I am representing Australia in the Adaptive LTA4+. I am competing with some amazing people both Australians and rowers from around the world. I have only been rowing for one year and have a long way to go with my rowing. The ultimate goal for me is to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics as an adaptive rower. I train everyday and manage to fit uni in around my training. I know all the hard work will pay off and I will be in London 2012. This world championships is one of the stepping stones to that goal, for the time being I am focusing on the current regatta I am at. Each row is a new row and every stroke counts. Go for GOLD, while wearing the green and gold!