It's Never Too Late

A new beginning

Ross didn't grow up as a freestyle kayaker.

His sporting background was rugby — an environment that had already taught him plenty about commitment, movement, mindset and what it means to keep working at something.

Then he found kayaking.

What began as another challenge gradually became something much bigger. Ross joined the Roster in 2019 as a relative beginner and threw himself into learning.

Not because he needed another sporting career.

Because he wanted to find out what he could become.

Learning differently

One of the interesting things about learning later in life is that you don't arrive empty-handed.

Ross brought decades of experience with him.

He asks questions. He wants to understand why something works, not simply copy it. He'll break movements apart, explore the mechanics and connect what he's experiencing in a kayak with things he's learned elsewhere.

Our coaching relationship has increasingly become about using all of that.

Not trying to make Ross learn like a 15-year-old.

Helping him learn like Ross.

Still discovering

Since those early sessions, Ross's paddling has taken him onto the Thames, international trips and into increasingly challenging whitewater.

But there isn't really a finishing point to this story.

That's rather the point.

Ross keeps turning up. Keeps asking questions. Keeps getting things wrong. Keeps laughing. Keeps learning.

The progress matters.

But so does having something in your life that continues to make you curious about what might still be possible.