From Paralympic Hopeful to
One Fin Wanderer
I’m Rosie, a 25 year old zoology graduate who’s about to leave city life behind to train as a dive master in Nusa Penida, Bali, whilst also undertaking conservation research. I have always been extremely passionate about wildlife conservation, with my main interest being marine life.
Read my story to find out how I went from a full time Para-swimmer for Great Britain to a dive master in training, and why I chose the name, One Fin Wanderer…
Always on the move
I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, before moving to Indiana, USA at only 2 months old for my parents work. It was here that I spent the first 10 years of my life before we relocated back to the UK, where I have still managed to move around – from Oxford, Glasgow and most recently, Manchester, where I now call home.
Why One Fin?
I was born missing my right leg and throughout my life have experienced many surgeries and complications because of it. However, I have never let my leg hold me back with anything and have always lived my life without any limits.
Despite never letting my leg be a reason why I can’t do anything, I can’t say I have always been so positive and comfortable with it…The majority of my childhood and teenage years I was incredibly self-conscious; refusing to wear skirts or dresses and covering my leg so no one would notice. I would even try to lie about having a prosthetic, constantly wishing I could change myself. Looking back on this now makes me sad I ever felt this way, as I barely resemble/recognise that person anymore. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change my leg as it is a huge part of my life and has shaped me into the person I am today, someone I am proud of.
I’d always loved being in the water, I spent my summers growing up in Canada with my family and everyday I was either in the pool or lake. So naturally, I got into swimming from a young age as it was something I always felt really comfortable doing. Not to mention I loved the feeling of being free without any restrictions from my prosthetic leg!
I first started competing in swimming at 12 years old, and at every level of competition I was against all able bodied. Before most races I would cry to my mum as I felt so embarrassed of my leg and was scared of everyone staring at me. It was only when I started para-swimming at 14 when things really started to change for me. My confidence began to grow massively and my perspective on my leg completely changed. At a para-swimming competition there are prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and more disabilities than you can think of everywhere you look! Watching the top swimmers with disabilities like mine absolutely smashing it as incredible, confident and strong athletes made me realise how wrong I was to be worried about my leg in the past, and that I should see myself in the same way too.
This is a big reason for wanting to share my story and write this blog – if I’d had more people, who were going through the same challenges I faced, putting themselves out there then maybe I wouldn’t have struggled so much growing up.
Life as an Elite Swimmer
For many years, I was a professional swimmer which consisted of training 9 times a week with the GB Para-swim team whilst also studying for my Zoology degree and working part-time. At one point I was training, studying, working 2 jobs as well as coaching my uni’s swim team – safe to say I was exhausted 24/7!
When I was 19 I moved to Manchester so I could train at the National Performance Centre where the GB squad was based. This is where swimming truly became my whole life and for years I gave everything I had to my swimming, with my goal being the 2016 Rio Paralympics. My event was 400m freestyle, which is long distance and requires you to be controlled and be able to pace yourself properly. I had a great year of training in the run up to trials – I went on camp with the team to Colorado (the very exclusive United States Olympic Training Centre) and to Thailand for a warm weather training camp a few months before. My training was unbelievably intense but my times remained really strong and my coaches and I were confident that I was more than capable of qualifying.
My goal of making Rio became the only important thing to me and all that I could see, the idea of not qualifying terrified me to my soul. So when it finally came to trials, the pressure I felt was huge…especially as to qualify you have to do the time there on that day – it doesn’t matter what you have done before then, the only thing that counts is your performance in that race. After having a few traumatic things happen in my personal life in the weeks leading up to trials, on top of the mounting pressure I was piling on to myself, I was not at all in a good mental space for my race, which is hugely important for any athlete of any discipline and level!
So in the end, after everything, I didn’t qualify. I remember the agony I felt when I got out of the pool afterwards being one of the most painful moments of my life. It felt as though I had lost everything by not making it. Since my experience, I have spoken to other athletes who went through the same thing by not making it to an Olympic games. I have found that it’s something that isn’t widely spoken about, nor is there much support out there for.
I was in a very dark place after trials and felt extremely lost. It soon dawned on me that I suddenly had no plans for the whole summer and I just knew that I needed to get away; sitting at home whilst watching all my friends live my dream was not an option for me. So I started thinking of all the places I wanted to go, things I wanted to do that I hadn’t been able to because of swimming and I started making a plan…Then couple of months later, I was setting off to travel the world on my own!
Travel
My first ever solo travelling experience was when I was 17, where I went with an organisation to volunteer with a wildlife vet in South Africa. It was an incredible experience – I flew in helicopters over game reserves, injected a pregnant rhino, treated big cats and much more. As amazing as South Africa was, the real game changer and the moment I truly discovered my love for travel, was my trip in the summer of 2016, after I had just missed out on the Paralympics.
My first stop was Tanzania, where I stayed for a month volunteering in a centre for disabled children during the week and exploring the country on the weekends. Tanzania is up there with my favourite countries and my trip there was definitely the most life changing of all my travels. I arrived still feeling so upset and lost about missing out on my swimming dreams, but this soon changed as I witnessed
such joy, happiness and generosity in the face of extreme poverty and my whole world was put in to perspective. I met such amazing people, did really important work and saw some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. I was absolutely devastated to leave Tanzania and part of me wanted to just spend the rest of my travels there. But I had already booked my next stop…. Thailand!
This was a very different month than the one previous – equally amazing but in a different way. I basically spent this month discovering partying and how much I love it, something I had always missed out on as a professional athlete. I made so many new friends, had crazy adventures, totally let my hair down and had more fun than I had ever had before – being in paradise whilst doing it didn’t hurt either.
It was in Thailand where I also discovered scuba diving, which as you can probably tell is now a huge love of my life! I got my open water certification on Koh Tao, and after, I decided to change my ongoing flights so I could stay longer and complete my advanced certification too. It was like an addiction, as soon as I realised how much diving and experiencing the ocean in that way was like heaven, I didn’t want to stop.
My last stop on my trip was Australia… this was again another month of insane adventures and experiences but was also quite different. I had no plans when I landed in Aus (unlike the first two months) and literally just wandered up the coast booking my next hostel whilst on the bus there. It was pure solo backpacking and it was perfect! Some of the other solo female travellers I met during this time have stayed in my life ever since as very close friends.
After those few months of travelling, I returned home and went back to swimming, studying and working. However, my mindset had completely changed and after seeing what the big wide world had to offer I didn’t feel like swimming was my whole world anymore. I was always itching to get away on trips, I had officially caught the travel bug – it’s a real thing! Over my next few summers I continued to go on a number of epic trips, always planning where to go around where I could dive.
Blog and Next Steps
2020 was a year of huge realisations for me, with lockdowns and restrictions not allowing me to travel or do any of the things I love. I suddenly had a lot of time to really think about what I wanted to do with my life after graduating, so I did a lot of researching into the types of careers that would excite me and compliment the lifestyle that I dreamed of.
I was fortunate enough to get away to Mallorca (a Spanish Balearic Island) in the summer of 2020 after the first lockdown and restrictions were lifted. Whilst I was there I managed to find a local dive center and went on some great dives, including a night dive!
My main passion and what I see myself doing in my career for life is working in wildlife conservation. After trying so hard to get a job in conservation here in the UK, I found myself never getting anywhere as I didn’t have hands on experience on any projects.
So I decided to combine my passion for conservation and my passion for diving by working on a marine conservation project as a diver, whilst completing training on research techniques and qualifying as a dive master. I was accepted on to an internship with Indo Ocean Project in Nusa Penida, Bali and start in January 2021.
I have now handed in my notice for work, I am leaving my home in Manchester and preparing to set off for Bali!
I have set up ‘One Fin Wanderer’ as a space to share my story, my journey and to document all the incredible things I will be seeing under the water in Indonesia. I also want to share my tips and tricks that I have learnt from my travels over the years, including on becoming a diver, itineraries for the countries and trips I have done and being a solo, female, disabled traveller!
Thank you SO much for reading and supporting!
Rosie, you have your parents’ gifts for writing and I bet that is in your future as well. I enjoyed this first overview and look forward to more.
Hi Leonore, Thank you so much – lovely to hear from you!:)
Have a Great time and be safe
Thank you – I will do! 🙂
Rosie- what a reflective and brutally honest account of the pressures of elite sport. The determination, dedication and resilience that made you an outstanding athlete are also the innate qualities that have allowed you to be positive and proactive in seeking opportunities and taking risks. You are a fantastic role model. Have the most awesome time 👏😊.
Hi Angie, thank you so much for your lovely words – it means a lot. Alice was one of my favourite people I met from swimming and have loved following her successes since I stopped. So lovely to hear from you:)
Great writing Rosie. Exciting. Look forward to reading more. Big love ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thanks Soph, Lots of love!
Rosie
You have really had such a incredible life even with having one leg girl and I feel ya as I don’t have either one of my legs I’m a double amputee and yes as you said at first I hated looking at myself well I still don’t like to look at myself in the mirror for sure but everything you have accomplished is just amazing wish you much success as you do your master diving in Bali❤️❤️❤️
Thanks so much Amy! ❤️
Rosie this is amazing! I knew you were epic but this is a new level?! Best of luck with Bali – I can’t wait to see what you’re up to! xx
Thank you so much Emily!! Thank you I can’t wait to see what you get up to too, I’m sure it will be amazing whatever it is xxxx
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