#004 - Breaking Barriers: The Inside World of a Professional Rower - A Conversation with Olympic Athlete Lee-Ann Persse

Speaking to Stacy: Practical Advice for Action Driven Living

Welcome to another episode of Speaking to Stacy. This was a very insightful episode for me. It’s the first time someone has explained how technical rowing (crew) is. I love learning new things and this conversation broadened my perspective. I’m extremely grateful to my guest for that.

Lee-Ann Persse (@leepersse on Instagram) is a retired rower who has represented South Africa at the Olympics on two separate occasions. Once in London and again at the Rio Games. Lee also is the host of a podcast, called the Girls Only Project. Their goal is to create an equal footing for women's sports on the African continent.

In this conversation, Lee discusses her journey in sport and the challenges she experienced thought her rowing career. If you are a sportsperson or hoping to become a professional athlete I strongly recommend you listen to the end to learn about the difficulties of transitioning into the working world once your sports career is over.

Lee’s story highlights the struggle that South African women often face when pursuing a career in sports. Financial constraints are often a massive barrier to entry for many female athletes who want to become national representatives in South Africa. It was fascinating to hear Lee explain her relationship with rowing. After retiring she did try to make a comeback but she had an epiphany and realized she was finished with rowing. She also experienced failure along the way and spoke openly about the obstacles she faced at the Olympics.

Key Takeaways for the listeners:

This combination of experiences allows her to teach you:

1) Why you need to have open communication within your teams (something that applies not only in sport but to business and family too),

2) How to learn and improve from failure by reflecting on your shortcomings,

3) The mental health issues that affect sportspeople.

I find that listening to people who have had very different experiences from my own always broadens my worldview. I challenge you to think about what you can take away from Lee’s story and apply it to your own situation.

Modern Wisdom Podcast that I referenced:

Stu Morton - Rowing the Atlantic Solo

I recommend people go and check out more of Chris’ content on Modern Wisdom. His podcast is truly amazing.

Get in touch

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