Rowing Wins!

I recently celebrated three years of rowing. This is significant because all the other sports that have been my main focus only lasted two years or less for various reasons. This is also the first time I've had a coach; I've had mentors in other sports (wheelchair racing, paratriathlon, archery) or I've had coaches in sports that were not my focus (sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair lacrosse). But really, for five years, I was essentially coaching myself and making it up as I went along... now I get to consult while someone else makes it up as we go along.

I know that seems like a lot of sports (I've tried even more!) and I can't say I'm great at any of them, but after years of being told I couldn't do things because of a messed up knee, I've been determined to try anything someone wanted to teach me. I've always been athletic, so missing out on that for many years took a toll I didn't really realize until I rebelled against being told to essentially sit out on everything. Lucky for me, my defining characteristic as an athlete is that I'm extremely coachable and willing to keep trying. I make coaches tear up a little whenever they catch me doing drills without being told.

My rowing coach found me as I was still trying to recover from an appendectomy a year before, struggling to sit up on my own, just starting to lose feeling in my hand, and had no endurance. Three years later, while I my hand is much worse, I'm stronger overall than I have been in a long time and I've been able to improve my endurance dramatically, especially through this long quarantine. And I loved my years as a trail runner exploring all kinds of trails, but I feel the most at home on the water or even being near water.. I always have. A couple years ago, after being told I was a natural in a few different paddle sports, I wondered why I had waited so long to try any of them!

Most importantly, I feel like rowing is the first sport I really chose. Or maybe it chose me. I did wheelchair racing because the running world was familiar, paratriathlon because I think I had something to prove, and archery was the only sport I could manage at that time. Don't get me wrong, I love all those sports and they're all still part of what I do, as cross training or just some fun. Rowing just holds a special place in my heart... and I'm pretty sure it's stuck with me now ;)