With sport offering countless opportunities, experiences and benefits for personal growth and development, it comes as no surprise that so many individuals seek to get involved with a sport in some form.
Engaging with sports has been a fundamental part of my life for over 15 years, progressing from the young child who did a different sport each day of the week to channelling much of my time into fencing, an admittedly niche discipline that has taken me to competitions in Germany, training camps in Hungary and endless service stations around the UK on the way to weekend competitions.
However, upon starting postgraduate study, I had a couple of months of extensive reflection on whether fencing still excited me and what an alternative activity to create an engaging work-life balance might look like. These were questions that sparked enough interest into looking at switching sports.
With little idea of what that might mean, practically, emotionally, and physically, I hope to shed some light on my experience of switching sports from the technically-orientated, fast paced world of fencing into the mental and physical challenges of rowing.
The surprise of those around me was one of the first reactions I encountered when considering taking up a new sport. With “you’ve always fenced” a repeating phrase that also floated around my head, I realised there had been, and continues to be, a strong conflation between sport and my identity.
Starting on the Edinburgh University Beginner Development programme, it was no longer feasible to continue fencing at the same intensity. At first, I grappled with a sense of loss, realising my decision to change sports also represented a decision to commit to never achieving a ranking I’d once aimed for, a competition I’d hoped to win or achieving the goals my younger self had aspired to. Fencing, I realised, had become closely intertwined with my sense of self, an integral part of my life that felt daunting to leave behind.
Despite these doubts, I made the decision to take up rowing. Change, I have since come to believe, has instead been hugely enabling. I’ve empowered myself to step into something new and redefine my identity. This has been one of the greatest rewards of switching sports.
In the last few months of rowing, I’ve felt genuinely excited by, and enthusiastic about, setting new goals, determining my own ambitions within the sport with a newfound sense of opportunity. This sense of renewal has been central to my enjoyment of rowing. Deciding to change has shown me that an unfamiliar environment doesn’t have to spark apprehension. Instead, it has created an eagerness to plunge into everything rowing has to offer, supported by expert coaches both on the water and in the gym.
Whilst this all sounds entirely positive, there has of course been moments of apprehension and discomfort.
When I started rowing, I faced a lot of uncertainty in my own mind about how my body would respond to the switch towards a strength-endurance sport that has required me to develop much greater aerobic and anaerobic capacity than I had gained through fencing. Further, being a ‘new person’ again, after years in a sport where I had a built a strong network and saw few unfamiliar faces, has at times, been unnerving. There is also so much to learn – from mastering rowing lingo, adapting my nutrition to increased training volumes, creating a new network as well as navigating the sports’ distinct culture and politics, I’ve often felt out of my depth – especially during gruelling erg sessions that have pushed me far beyond my comfort zone.
All this said, taking up rowing has undoubtably been a highly rewarding reinvention. I’ve rediscovered the joy in the process of improvement and have welcomed the resilience and determination that the sport of rowing builds within you.
Whether you are wondering if the sport you have commited to for a number of years is still for you, or you’re looking to take up a sport for the first time, the skills and experiences I have gained from learning to row have been invaluable. Above all, transitioning to a new sport has rekindled my appreciation for the learning process and my excitement for embracing new challenges.
Should you find yourself in a similar position, this could be the perfect time to make the most of a novel opportunity, while continuing to invest in sport as a meaningful and fulfilling part of your life.
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