King's College London

Rowing is a unique sport. It is the only sport in the world where you look at your opposition when you are beating them as you go backwards as fast as possible! There are various combinations of oars (blades) and rowers that make up different boat classes within rowing.

The most well-known is the eight: 8 rowers, 8 blades and a coxswain who steers the boat. It is raced over 2000m with 8 boats racing side by side; it takes roughly 6 minutes from start to finish.

As a child I tried lots of different sports including swimming, gymnastics, football, hockey, and even cross country running. I never really found something I loved or felt like ‘my sport’. When I was 12, my Mum signed me up for a summer camp at Henley Rowing Club. I had never experienced rowing despite living in one of the world’s most famous rowing towns.

I spent that week swimming more than I was rowing and I fell in about 4 times a day, but I had so much fun! That summer was also the 2012 Olympics with the rowing happening at Eton Dorney Lake in Windsor. I was fixed to the TV all week and watched almost every rowing race. It really inspired me to take up the sport.

Over the last 7 years I have worked my way up through the ranks and age groups, starting at Henley Rowing Club as a Junior u13 (J13), racing with my friends. This continued up to J17 when we won 3 national titles racing at Eton Dorney. Later that summer of 2018 I was selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The event used the venue built for the 2020 Olympics and was my first insight into international rowing. We finished 7^th in the world, beating some fierce competition.

Covid hit in 2020 and like all sports, rowing was not permitted, but I kept fit by cycling, running, and using the indoor rowing machine before starting at Kings in September 2020. I joined the University of London Boat Club which is a collection of colleges and universities whose elite rowers compete under one club “ULBC”.

Dual Career: Studying x Performance Athlete support at King’s

The step-up in training for university level rowing was challenging. Not only did the load double, but I was now responsible for so much more than when I was at school. Initially it was tough, settling into living alone, cooking for myself as well as starting a challenging degree but after a few months I created a solid routine which allowed me to start excelling at rowing and doing well with my degree.

Biomedical engineering was a logical degree choice for me, combining my love for sports and movement with physics and maths. The inspiration for my degree course came from wanting to expand on the biomechanics I had learnt at GCSE PE. In the future I would like to see if I can combine my knowledge in biomedical engineering with helping sportspeople reach their goals whether they are able bodied or para-athletes.

Time management is key for succeeding in both my sport and studies - meal prep, being proactive with academic studies and assignments and being on top of sleep and recovery. I know that leaving things to the last minute won’t work as I have training and competitions which also take my attention.

Since coming to King's, I have won bronze for GB at the Under 23 European championships in Poland in 2021 racing in a four (4 people 4 blades) and last summer I won silver at the under 23 World Rowing Championships in the women’s eight. This is just the start of what I aspire to achieve with my goal being selection for the GB senior rowing team one day.

As a dual career athlete with King’s Sport & Wellness , I have been better able to communicate to my supervisors and lecturers the importance of my rowing commitments alongside my studies. This has allowed me to keep competing and training to a high standard whilst achieving a great degree.

As well as helping with communication,King’s Sport & Wellness  has provided me with organisation, nutrition, sports psychology, physiotherapy and strength and conditioning support. I suffered a rib stress fracture at the start of my second year at university and King’s Sport & Wellness  were essential in making sure I was healthy mentally and physically during my recovery.

Most of my lectures are based in the Stamford Street Waterloo campus, so I have been able to make the most of the Waterloo gym and wellbeing space. It is a great location to meet athletes and the team, to work or just have a chat. The performance seminars are an excellent way to meet other athletes and share experiences and advice. It can be quite hard as a female student athlete to reach out for support.

Female Role Models and being a Female in Sport

As a child I never thought I would be where I am today, both academically and athletically. I started off rowing at the bottom of the squad; it took me years to win races and hours of training every day to get where I wanted to be. I had to work hard to gain results at GCSEs and A levels which gave me options for my future. Without doubt, being a woman in STEM is tough and being a woman in sport is tough too, but I am grateful to be surrounded by people who give me the drive to push myself every day, to be as fast and as smart as I can be.

As a child I never thought I would be where I am today, both academically and athletically. I started off rowing at the bottom of the squad; it took me years to win races and hours of training every day to get where I wanted to be. I had to work hard to gain results at GCSEs and A levels which gave me options for my future. Without doubt, being a woman in STEM is tough and being a woman in sport is tough too, but I am grateful to be surrounded by people who give me the drive to push myself every day, to be as fast and as smart as I can be.

If I could give any advice to my younger self, it would be to enjoy the process, be resilient by learning from failure and recognise that your goals are never too big to pursue. As a 15-year-old I looked up to the u23 athletes winning medals on a world stage. Standing on the podium holding the GB flag with my best friends was the most incredible feeling. I had become the girl that I looked up to all those years ago.

I am so grateful to King’s Sport & Wellness for offering such a safe, supportive, and inspirational environment to be a female athlete. I am proud and delighted to be able to call myself a Kings Sport & Wellness Athlete.