As a big Lauren Rowles fan, I was both excited and a little sad about her recent announcement to leave rowing behind, at least for the time being. However, it made me think about other elite athletes who have transitioned away from rowing and what they bring with them into their new ventures. In this article, I’ll highlight some elite rowers who made similar moves away from the sport.
Lauren Rowles’ first step into elite sports was in wheelchair racing, having been inspired by the London 2012 Olympics. She quickly rose to success, competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, aged just 16. Shortly after, she was scouted by GB Rowing. And just a few months later, she won silver in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls at the 2015 World Rowing Championships. By the end of the summer in 2016, she was Paralympic champion with her sculls partner Laurence Whiteley.
Now three-time Paralympic champion, she’s returning to her first love of wheelchair racing, aiming for the London Marathon at the end of April. She’s leaving rowing at the top of her game, so it will be interesting to see if she can achieve the same eminence in wheelchair racing.
But, she’s not the only rower who has transitioned to another sport.
Rebecca Romero became the first British woman to compete in two different sports at the Olympic Games and the second woman to win a summer Olympic medal in multiple disciplines.
Romero, similar to Rowles, progressed incredibly quickly in rowing; she went from complete novice to U23 International in just eight months. At the peak of her rowing career, she gained Olympic silver in 2004 in Athens and then won the World Championships in a quad alongside rowing giants Katherine Grainger, Sarah Winkless, and Frances Houghton.
Sadly, she suffered a persistent back injury, leading to her retirement from rowing in 2006. Hope was not lost, however, as she transitioned to track cycling and found similar rapid success. In 2008, after less than two years in the saddle, she won gold in the individual pursuit at the Beijing Olympics.
Similarly, Cameron Wurf switched from elite rowing to professional road cycling after injury forced him onto the bike. Wurf represented Australia and won gold in the coxless four at the U23 World Championships in 2003, before becoming an Olympian in Athens the following year.
In 2006, while training with the national rowing team in Varese, Wurf developed tendonitis and used cycling to recover. He loved it. By the time he was back competing at the World Championships, he’d already made up his mind to make the switch to cycling full-time.
He spent a few years as a professional road cyclist, racing in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, before switching again to triathlon, specifically Ironmans. Now 41 and still competing, Wurf credits the regular sports changes for keeping him fresh and able to compete at a high level, 21 years after his Olympic debut.
American multi-sport athlete Oksana Masters won the USA’s first medal in trunk and arms mixed doubles (now PR2), claiming bronze at the 2012 Paralympics in London. Overcoming unthinkable hardships in her childhood in Ukraine, Masters took up para-rowing in 2002 at age 13, after initially being put off by the term ‘adaptive’.
She, too, left rowing due to a back injury, and has since won 18 more Paralympic medals in para cross-country skiing, para biathlon, and para-cycling.
Some other examples include British cycling legend Chris Hoy, who represented Scotland at Home International Rowing in the early 90s before finding his forte as a track cyclist, and Jason Osbourne, a German lightweight Olympian and World Champion rower, who is now a world leader in esports cycling.
While it’s certainly not just rowers who switch sports, it’s clear that elite rowers do not have a hard time adapting when they choose to transition away from rowing.
On the most basic level, rowing gives athletes cardiovascular and strength levels, which are easily transferable into other sports. Things rowers may take for granted like leg strength, hip mobility, and core stability are essential for so many other sports. It seems obvious that athletes tend to fall into other sports that value these traits, such as cycling or triathlon.
Rowing is known to be one of the hardest sports on the Olympic roster. Not only does it require feats of endurance and strength, but also mental toughness and the ability to push yourself far beyond what is comfortable. Resilience, adaptability, teamwork, and the capacity to be coached effectively are all skills which I have honed in a rowing boat better than anywhere else.
Rowing pushes athletes to their limits, building mental and physical strength, determination, and versatility that carry far beyond the boat. Watching elite rowers thrive in new sports is proof of that. As someone who’s stepped away from competitive rowing in recent years, it’s reassuring to know that the lessons learned over a decade of rowing – discipline, teamwork, and grit – will continue to open doors in whatever I pursue.
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