Persistence is key. That was the motto I trained by and
continued to demonstrate throughout my sporting career; one that in a
multidiscipline sport such as Modern Pentathlon proved vital. I have just
witnessed two friends perfectly demonstrate the importance of this trait with
incredible results on the world stage. I met both girls at Kelly College, where
we were all part of the successful swim squad. It was there that the work ethic
became engrained, we soon learned that results would not come easily, but that
we encouraged to always aim high and never give up. Our success was not purely
down to the physical benefits of a swimming background, more significantly it
was the mental strength gained from this period of our athlete development.
Claire Cashmore had already competed in a Paralympic Games
by the time I met her, winning medals in Athens, Beijing and London, an
impressive collection of silver and bronze.
Rio2016 was her fourth Games and possibly the last chance to go for gold. It
came down to her fourth and final event of the week, the Friday evening in the medley
relay. Claire did it, she reached her goal and she stood on top of the podium at
the Paralympic Games with a gold medal around her neck, singing God Save The Queen.
Another athlete that I shared many tough training sessions
alongside in the pool went on to represent Bermuda in triathlon. Flora Duffy
competed in her third Olympic Games this summer and went in ranked number one
in the world. It was not quite to be as she missed out on the podium for a
third time. The season was not over, the World Championships were to be held over
a month later in Mexico. Flora did not dwell her Rio performance, she moved on
and refocused. She is now the Triathlon World Champion.
Both of these friends have shown such resilience and
persistence throughout their long successful careers. It is athletes such as
Claire and Flora that can remind us to dream.
