Excalibur Rower Bayleigh Hooper Rows her Way to the Tokyo Paralympic Games
Work ethic, discipline and determination have driven transformative experience for Trent student-athlete
The whole experience has yet to sink in for rower Bayleigh Hooper. Since returning to Canada, the Chatsworth, Ontario,-native is still letting the reality of the whole experience settle. The 23 year-old who started rowing four years ago, is headed to the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
“When we first crossed, we were so happy, but it wasn’t until a few moments after when I was hugging my teammates when it hit us, ‘we did it,’” reflects Bayleigh. “Since then, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s definitely a lot bigger thing to process than I thought at the very beginning.”
The idea of becoming a Paralympian had not even crossed Bayleigh’s mind when she first picked up a rowing oar on the side of the Otonabee River in her first year at Trent University.
But here she is, four years later, headed to Tokyo to compete for Canada as a member of the PR3 Mixed coxed four team. The team finished in first place (a team best performance time of 7:08.87) at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Gavirate, Italy on Saturday, June 5, to qualify for this year’s Paralympic Games.
From Excalibur novice to Paralympian
Joining the Peterborough Rowing Club and the Excalibur rowing team in her first year at Trent, she helped the novice women’s eight team capture gold at the 2017 OUA Championships. It was at that time was then Excalibur coach Carol Love, now Rowing Canada NextGen coach and athlete mentor, approached her with the idea of the para rowing.
“In the winter after that novice season, Carol approached me with the idea of the Paralympics as an idea that I might want to pursue,” explains Bayleigh, who joined the varsity rowing team 2018. “I thought about it, was lucky enough to get classified and from there it was about slowly chipping away at that goal.”
“Bayleigh was a great athlete when she came to Trent,” Ms. Love said. “It takes huge amounts of work ethic and discipline to make it to this level. For Bayleigh, it’s huge, because she might have never seen the Paralympics as a possibility and it’s very transformative for her. Trent Athletics has always supported the individuals who wanted to pursue high performance. With the river and the facilities at the doorstep, so for athletes who find Trent and have a passion, the resources to development are incredible.”
Bayleigh credits a part of her decision to pursue rowing professional after the support from her teammates, family and coaches.
“Having Carol Love take me under her wing and slowly how to row singles and having my teammates from first year and new teammates from the NextGen program, really pushed and motivated me, and that’s when I received the invitation to row out west,” Bayleigh says. “Once getting into rowing, I always wanted to see how far I could go. I’m a person that once I get something into my head or someone says I can’t do it, I want to go prove to them that I can do it.”
Ms. Hooper still looks back to her time with the Excalibur fondly. “I want to say thank you to my coaches from the Excalibur team that really got me started and have since then supported me along the way, I truly wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for them.”
Leaving her mark
Growing up, Bayleigh always knew that she had a few more hurdles to overcome, but when she first found out how she could be involved in para sports, she needed time to think it over. When she decided to pursue para rowing, she had a new sense of motivation.
“Para athletes and able-bodied athletes are on the exact same level,” Bayleigh says. “They’re both competing against the best of the best and I want to defy the odds and bring out that message; just because we have a quote-on-quote disability, does not mean that we are any less and we don’t work just as hard.”
Ms. Hooper and her teammates have now since returned to Canada, going through quarantine before returning to the waters in Victoria, BC, as they continue to prepare for the Tokyo Paralympics in August, hoping to show what she can do on the world stage.