1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
I was a figure skater for several years and was at my peak. I wasn't making gains and it had started to fade for me. I decided to try rowing because I knew some people who had gotten a scholarship for rowing. I wanted to try a new sport and try to get a scholarship too. Rowing is nothing like figure skating and I had no upper body strength, so it was definitely an adjustment for me.
2. Was there a practice, race or other event when you fell in love with the sport, or when you knew you might not be too bad at rowing? When you thought you could make the national team?
I fell in love with rowing because all I had to do was sit in a boat and pull on a oar and do the same thing over and over again. At the beginning of my rowing career, in comparison to figure skating, it seemed so easy and I was never nervous like I was when I got onto the ice by myself and had to perform. Rowing is just raw; the harder you go the faster you can go. Now things are a bit different with rowing as it's much more technical than when I first started. I loved the 'go harder and go faster' aspect of rowing when I first started. I knew I could do this sport because I had super powerful legs and I had pretty good endurance. I started seeing success around my peers pretty quickly and I loved winning. Having success in a new sport influenced me to keep pushing for more success. I struggled as a figure skater because of my size and all I ever wanted to was win. When I started to feel what winning was like I was hooked!
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
I would have to say 2011 U23 world championships was my favorite race winning gold. This success inspired me to go for the national team and get on the Olympic team. That was a stepping stone I'll never forget and I think a lot of the girls in that crew would agree, there are several of us that have travelled this journey together since then.
4. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Its not an easy road to make it to the top and everyone's road is different. The harder you train, the more success you can find. If you truly believe in yourself you can do anything you want. The sport of rowing is very influenced by the mind--a powerful mind can get you the success you want.
Date Of Birth: Sept 17, 1989
Coach: John Keogh
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 76 kg
Hometown: Langley, BC
Current Club: UWO Rowing Club
Go-to pump up song: Ellie Goulding - Burn
Favourite professional team: Vancouver Canucks
Other sports participated in: I was a competitive skater for 14 years and a dancer for eight years.
Year first rowed: 2008
First Rowed at: University of the Fraser Valley
First Coach: Liz Chisholm
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Olympics coverage is brought to you by:
row2k's Olympics coverage is brought to you by: