In the first of our series in which leading Paralympians identify a key location where their sporting journey began, we chat to Paralympian #225 Anna Taylor, a silver medallist in the Women’s C4 Individual Pursuit at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
It is fair to say Anna Taylor has enjoyed two sporting careers. Her first arrived as an accomplished able-bodied rower with St Peter’s School before later earning a scholarship to compete as an oarswoman at Oregon State University.
Defeating thyroid cancer during her time in the US, she later sustained a severe disc prolapse which compressed the spinal cord. Undergoing emergency decompression disc surgery for acute cauda equina syndrome, she sustained a permanent disability. Living with a major weakness in her left leg and a minor weakness in the right opened the road to to a Para sport journey where she has gone on to enjoy a medal-laden career as an international Para cyclist for New Zealand.
Yet it was on the water at Lake Karapiro in Cambridge where her sporting journey began.
Anna started to row to form friendships and build connections at St Peter’s School.
First experiencing the sport on Lake Karapiro as part of a St Peter’s School rowing camp she recalls: “I didn’t have much previous exposure to the sport before I started but as soon as I got in the boat it was so cool,” recalls Anna. “The girls I rowed with were fun people, and it started my love for the sport.
“The feel of the boat when its moving, it hooks you. You want to feel it more and more. It is the epitome of a team sport. It doesn’t matter how good you are individually you need to work in tandem with others in the boat.”
Living as a boarder at St Peter’s School, Anna admits she would set her alarm clock at 5.03am each day – just enough time to get up, get changed, have breakfast and jump in the van to head down to the lake for training.
No matter how sluggish Anna may have felt getting out of bed and with the prospect of a 10-12km row ahead of her, she would often be lifted after climbing into the boat.
“When you are on the water, watching the sun rise it is magic,” she explains. “Lake Karapiro always has a special place in my heart.”
Forging her closest friendships with her fellow crewmates, her time rowing imbued in Anna some important qualities which have allowed her to succeed as a Para cyclist.
“I learned so many lessons from rowing,” she explains.
“At the start of a 2000m race, the last thing you should be thinking about is how much this is going to hurt. That translates into being able to overcome obstacles. It teaches you about being present in the moment and thinking about the next step. But most importantly rowing teaches you that you are capable of doing far more than you think is possible. After I started Para cycling it becomes easier knowing I’d achieved as a rower.”
Later rowing for Oregon State University she was “devastated” to be forced to quit the sport following her various health challenges. Acknowledging over time that rowing was not her long-term pathway, Para cycling has allowed her to focus her energy down a different sporting avenue.
Now coaching rowing at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton she is delighted to re-engage with her first sporting passion and acknowledges the huge debt of gratitude she owes to rowing.
“In many ways, the sport of rowing saved my life,” she says. “Because it is such a hard sport, it takes so much mental discipline it helps build resilience and that was important when I got sick. Rowing taught me to push that bit further. Had I not been that strong-willed or resilient, I don’t know what would have happened (after I got sick).”
Following her injury, Anna sought an outlet for her competitive nature in Para sport. After reaching out to Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) she opted to try a ‘Have a Go’ cycling session in New Plymouth. Taken with the sport and possessing the physiological tools from rowing which translate well to succeeding in Para cycling, she said: “I knew participating in Para cycling would allow me to continue to pursue my sporting ambitions in a safe environment, which wouldn’t harm my body.”
After securing classification she was given the chance to try track cycling at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge for the first time. Understandably nervous to take to the track with its steep banking, she nonetheless relished her first experience.
“It was cool riding a fixed gear bike, although you have to remember the bike has no brakes. I still get scared riding up to the fence but track cycling is an exhilarating sport and it is fun to ride on the track.”
Training twice a week at the velodrome, Anna has become a fixture at the state-of-the-art facility, which she insists has become a heartbeat for the local community.
“Besides the elite cyclists and Para cyclists based out of here, it is a place where people celebrate fitness and health riding bikes. The Home of Cycling has done a really nice job involving so many people and welcoming the Cambridge community. The town is a beautiful place to live where everyone supports each other. I love it.”
