WAIS Athlete Voice – Gen Hart’s Journey
My name is Gen Hart and I’m a 20-year-old athlete, training in the WAIS Rowing Program. I’m a bubbly person who is always keen for a chat, so I was delighted when the Cambridge Rotary Club invited me to their weekly breakfast meeting as a guest speaker.
The Rotarians are a cheeky and delightful group, who enjoy learning about different topics and people’s stories through a variety of guest speakers. They were interested to hear about my journey as an elite athlete and what it takes to train and compete at a professional level. After briefly explaining the sport, I outlined my rowing journey; from reluctantly marching myself to my school rowing coordinator in year 10 to ‘give it a go’ for a term, all the way to being selected on the 2022 Senior and U23 Rowing teams at 19 years old, and everything in between. My journey has been anything but smooth-sailing, and the Rotarians were interested to learn how I went about balancing heavy training loads with school, and later, Uni work, as well as how I dealt with the pressure of competing internationally for the first time.
It was especially interesting to hear of some of the Rotarian’s connections to Rowing, a few of them having participated at a school and club level for many years. Jeanette Wood and her husband Jeremy, two of the members had previously lived and worked in Henley-on-Thames, where I competed in the Henley Royal Regatta last year, and were delighted to exchange stories and experiences of the town and the Regatta.
I thoroughly enjoyed speaking for this group, and walked away with a smile I couldn’t wipe off my face. Community engagement is such an incredibly important part of being an Elite Athlete, yet one that is often overlooked. We are so fortunate to be both financially and emotionally supported by the WA community, yet many athletes are hesitant to engage in opportunities to immerse ourselves in the community.
Public speaking can be awkward and intimidating; the prospect of eyes, ears and thoughts on you is a huge ‘barrier to entry’ for many. Yet, in the interests of giving back and getting out of our comfort zone, we need to take a leap of faith! In the beginning I felt hideously underqualified or like an imposter; especially being so young and inexperienced compared to the World Champions and Olympians I am surrounded by; with more years of experience than I have been alive! But in a way, this is exactly why I began to push myself to step out of my comfort zone.
Our sporting lives are absolutely crazy, but in living them every day, our standards for ourselves rise and can cause us to forget the significance of our day-to-day. Every Athlete that I know at WAIS, regardless of their achievements or level, has an incredible journey, and stories upon stories to tell of their trials and tribulations, successes, and joys. Athletes are, in a way, superhumans; in their grit, determination, persistence, organisational and life-balance skills, and in the lessons we learn on our journeys, as well as in the way we conduct ourselves, have an incredible bank of knowledge and therefore the capacity to have a huge positive impact on the wider community. In sharing our stories, experiences, and advice, not only are we able to inspire, support and connect with the next generation of sporting champions who look to us as role models, but also indirectly benefit ourselves, an aspect of sharing that is often overlooked.
With community engagement, the more you give, the more you get. Something that can take a while to realise, is this huge sense of empowerment and pride that it brings; in verbalising the sacrifices you make, your strengths, the obstacles you’ve overcome, and the passion that drives you to do it all. It leaves you motivated, inspired, and buzzing with a whole new sense of purpose. You feel recognised and energised, instilled with a wider sense of support as the people you interact with become invested in your story and your journey.