Bex Rimmington Blog

Saturday 18th February 2012

Travel Day

So today I set off for training camp in Florida, USA. I can’t tell you how excited I am! Not only is this a chance to see my middle brother Simon and his wife Lim, but also the opportunity to get some warm weather, quality training under my belt. The last few months have been tough and to be given the all clear from the doctors means that things can well and truly get underway.

I had to leave the house at 4am to make it down to Heathow to catch my flight. I must confess I’m an absolute sucker when it comes to airport shopping! Purchases normally include books, magazines and the compulsory browse around the sunglasses shop to check out the new range of Oakleys, with the challenge being whether I can come out without having purchased any!

I also took the opportunity to stop for breakfast and was over the moon to find a restaurant serving organic breakfasts and 3 free range eggs omelettes – delicious! Thank you Garfunkels! However, the funniest moment in breakfast had to be sitting near the American man who said, “I’ve just got to have one of these English Breakfasts – I’ll have that with a Pepsi.” I couldn’t stop laughing, having just been converted to tea and coffee, I almost felt the urge to offer him a fine cup of English tea!

So onto the flight, and for all those that know me sitting still for 10-hours always prooves somewhat challenging! In between the movies, I had a stroll around the plane stopping off at every exit to do some stretching. I did get a few funny looks I must admit. Luckily I didn’t burst into any Bikram Yoga moves!

Arriving into Miami airport and the sun was shining and the sea was sparkling blue! Perfect! I managed to retrieve all my luggage successfully this time from the airport – my previous visit back in 2004 proved a little different when I accidentally left my luggage in baggage claim, realised and went to get back in through the no exit sign – now wasn’t that a mistake!

However, I met up with Simon & Lim who I last saw in 2009 at my Mum’s surprise birthday to trip to Paris, so it was great to see them both after so long.

Once we got to the house we were in for a real treat with the sunset that evening over the intra-coastal. Beautiful is the only way to describe it.With my brother being an awesome photographer we headed out with our cameras to take some shots until last light.

Then back to the house for some more dinner and settling down for another movie, “When In Rome” nothing like an easy viewing chick flick – well it was only a little bit cheesey!

So now time for some zzzz’s ready for the action and adventures of Camp starting tomorrow!

Stay tuned.

Bex

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The phrase bouncebackability has been overused in a sporting context, so much so that it has been recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary, but it sums up one Melton-based sportswoman perfectly.

28-year-old Bex Rimmington was at the top of her game as a cyclist, representing Great Britain and training in Manchester, until she was hit by two pieces of misfortunate. Firstly her team’s funding was cut before injury struck as she tried to rebuild her career.

Rather than let adversity crush her dreams of sporting success, Rimmington decided to rise to the challenge and refocused her efforts into a new sport. Swapping handlebars for oars, the former swimmer and triathlete took up rowing and is now set to take part in GB trials.

As a youngster, it wasn’t long before sport took over Bex’s life, as inspiration came from her own success and that of her idols.

“I was diagnosed with asthma when I was three so I swam to build up my lungs. I threw myself into every sport; cross country, dancing, trampolining and at the age of 10, my swimming took off. I started getting invited to more competitions and started winning. I liked winning and it became a bit addictive.

“My biggest inspiration was seeing the Great Britain 4×400 metre relay team win at the 1992 Olympics and, at school, we used to run around the playground pretending to be them. Then there’s the Hungarian swimmer, Krisztina Egerszegi. She was world champion, Olympic champion and just phenomenal.”

Bex left school for a full-time job, before going to university at Bath and taking up another sporting challenge.

“They had a big triathlon club. I got talent spotted for cycling, so I had a go at that. I was always a great swimmer and cyclist but I could never quite cut it on the run. But my cycling took off so I focused on that.”

Bex rode for the prestigious VC St.Raphael club, raced for Great Britain and joined the Paracyling Academy in Manchester, but with a spot at London 2012 seemingly in the bag, one bad result and an unfortunate accident turned her world upside down.

“We were ranked number one in the world and won a World Cup but ultimately, we didn’t medal at the World Championships and that’s

what UK Sport base their funding criteria on. It meant I couldn’t live up in Manchester. We were aiming for London 2012 and it absolutely broke my heart. Everything had gone really well apart from the one race.

“I signed with a pro team to race in Europe but, on a club run, this guy fell off his bike into me and I ended up breaking my wrist. I had to go in a cast which meant I lost my contract.”

Despite seeing cycling as her destiny, a UK Sport talent test revealed that Bex had the perfect build for rowing, so she gave the sport a go.

“It was hard at the beginning but a lot of cycling is involved. I can combine the two because it’s all leg strength. A lot of top rowers cycle. I’m still riding every day, it’s a big part of my life and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give up. Once you start, you can’t stop cycling.

“I was selected for the Nottingham High Performance rowing squad based on how much I’ve progressed this year. I’m training in Nottingham with a couple of GB girls. We’re doing a lot of work in singles because we’re aiming for GB trials but I’ve also raced in doubles, fours and eights.”

quote4 Strength In Adversity

Rebecca Romero, who started cycling at the same time as Bex, famously claimed Olympic gold after making the opposite transition from rowing to cycling, which provides a good omen for Rimmington, but does she get the same buzz from rowing?

“Bizarrely yes. You can push yourself so hard and it’s so technical. For every stroke, you have to get a feel for the water and then the power.” A swimming teacher by trade, Bex just about manages to fit in some relaxation time between work and training.

“Bikram yoga is my biggest relaxation. An hour and a half of that a day is great. It clears your mind and you’re ready to go again.”

Bex is keeping calm about the future but the fire of ambition still burns brightly.

“I’ve got GB trials in December and then hopefully another round in February. If all goes to plan I could be on a European circuit next year. That’s my motivation at the moment. London is very ambitious and I have to be realistic, so, I’m probably looking at Rio in 2016.”

So what advice would Bex give to other sports people who face adversity?

“There are lots of opportunities out there. Don’t sit and dwell on the negatives. It’s going to be hard work but things are always harder at the beginning. Just stick at it and something good will come.”

Someone never likely to dwell on the negatives, rather turn them into positives, Bex Rimmington will richly deserve any success that comes her way.

For more information on Bex or to help her with sponsorship visit her official website: www.bexrimmington.com

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Published on Tuesday 8 November 2011 11:39

IT’S fair to say Melton sportswoman Bex Rimmington hasn’t enjoyed the best of luck over the last 12 months, writes Chris Harby.

This time last year she was nailed on to join the London 2012 party and go for Paralympic gold as the tandem pilot for partially-sighted cyclist Lora Turnham.

But despite a world number one ranking, Bex was forced to quit the Paracyling Academy in Manchester. Just one result at the sport’s world championships, a sixth place finish, was enough to cut her performance-based funding in half, leaving her without enough cash to pay the rent.

Redemption was swift when British cycling team Rapha Condor offered Bex her first full professional contract. But just weeks before taking up her dream position, a freak accident on a routine training ride broke her wrist and shattered another ambition.

Yet the latest mishap to befall our fiercely driven Melton superwoman almost beggars belief.

With the sporting gods providing enough hints that life on two wheels was not for her, the 28-year-old was persuaded to give rowing a go. British high performance team coaches were convinced her physique made Bex an ideal person to have in a boat.

Basing herself at the national water sports centre at Holme Pierrepont, in Nottingham, she set out to learn a whole new sport and become the new Rebecca Romero. In reverse.

Taking to the latest venture like a duck to, ahem, water, the former swimmer and triathlete was invited to try out at the British squad trials in Boston last weekend.

Even the most heightened sense of foreboding wouldn’t have persuaded Bex to worry when she picked up a splinter……

Wrong. A bad infection put her in hospital and subsequently out of action for three weeks, leaving her without time to regain full fitness to perform at the trials.

This may sound like a tale of woe, but it isn’t. Bex’s story is inspirational. If there’s any semblance of fair play and justice in this world, willpower and hard work will take her exactly where she wants to go in sport.

Her quest for sporting glory goes on in December when there’s another British squad assessment. And in the meantime there’s training with some of the top British women to look forward to and, of course, the thrill of competition.

I can’t tell you Bex will one day appear in the Olympics, and she can’t guarantee that. But it wouldn’t suprise me one bit if she did.

Bottle her dedication, positivity, hard work and sheer guts and there you have the Olympic spirit.

To appear in this global showpiece, at any level, would mean the world to her. And for that very reason you can be sure Bex won’t allow fate and fortune to dictate her future.

http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/sport/other-sports/sports_editor_s_blog_why_bex_s_olympic_spirit_deserves_the_ultimate_reward_1_3225619

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A photographic celebration of Leicestershire’s sporting heroes has gone on display at the Highcross shopping centre.

The Back Page Exhibition, which was launched yesterday, features 24 images taken by the Mercury’s photographers.

Among the sports stars admiring their pictures at the launch were boxer Rendall Munroe, Ismail Saleh, of Leicester’s CKI School of Martial Arts, discus thrower Eden Francis and triple jumper Laura Samuels.

Super-bantamweight Rendall loved his photo so much he is going to put a print of it on his living room wall. “It was taken just before a fight so the pose is completely natural,” he said.

Eden posed for her picture on a cold and wet December night last year at Saffron Lane athletics stadium, in Leicester. “It took a few attempts to get the picture because the disc moves so fast,” she said. “I think the exhibition is really cool.”

The exhibition has been organised by Mercury photographer Mike Sewell.

He said: “To be here in the Highcross and to know thousands of people are going to see The Back Page is just incredible.”

The exhibition will be at Highcross for a month.

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Sporty-snaps-county-talent/article-3425230-detail/article.html

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The Back Page exhibition features some of the city and county’s most high profile sporting characters as photographed by Leicester Mercury photographers.

The exhibition includes Leicester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, snooker star Mark Selby and boxer Rendall Munroe. The exhibition is live at Highcross from Sunday 3 April until Friday 6 May.

You can find the exhibition on the John Lewis bridge link.

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Monthly Feature: “A DAY IN THE LIFE OF”

Bex Rimmington:

Former GB Para-cycling Tandem Pilot making transition to Rowing / Swimming Teacher by trade

When did you start rowing seriously?

At the beginning of April 2011

How did you get involved – did someone recognise you were talented in this area?

I went to a talent ID day where the physiologists took a variety of measurements e.g. height, weight, arm span, sitting height, from that they said I would be ideal for rowing.

So let’s have an example of a typical start to the day. Morning training?

Up bright and early at 5.30am ready to be on the water at 6.30am

What about your healthy breakfast? The most important start to your day?

After training normally porridge, yogurt, nuts and berries – yum!

So tell us a few things about what you do in the day. Training? Visits? Responsibilities? Day to Day Duties.

After morning training its normally off to work swimming. In between each block of classes I go to the gym and do some core stability. Then back for evening training either out on the water or on the concept 2 ergo. I also get invited to help out at the local schools giving out sports awards. I alternate each week with a visit to the chiropractor and having a sports massage to keep my muscles in good working order. And naturally in a era where social media is at its peak – updating my website, twitter and facebook!

What do you enjoy most about your career?

Being a swimming teacher there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing someone have the confidence to take their first few strokes by themselves or going on to win gold at a national championships.

Similarly being on the water and starting a new sport, having new challenges and obstacles to overcome is the start of a whole new journey for me.

Tell us about some recent success of yourself and your team mates.

Cycling in 2010 ranked number 1 in world, gold & silver at world cup. 2009 world championship bronze medal para cycling road race.

Rowing being selected for Henley Women’s Regatta after just 10-weeks of learning to row.

You were all set for the Olympics – what happened?

My funding got cut to an amount I was unable to live off. My role as a tandem pilot meant that I had to be available as and when needed and trying to combine that with a full-time job was not going to get the best out of me as an athlete. The funding criteria is based upon winning a medal at a world championships. Despite being ranked number 1 in the world, we didn’t win the medal at the world championships.

So is there a woman in sport that you aspire to?

Kristina Egerszegi from Hungary – as a young aspiring swimmer I remember watching her compete and how she became a role model for the country. Three time Olympian, five times Olympic gold medallist that’s a pretty good cv!

What keeps you going on raining, cold days when it is tough to get into training? What drives you?

Knowing that my competitors could be training. Every session is vital to turning up on the event start line the best prepared you can be.

Do you have anything to say to our ladies to motivate them no matter whatever career they are involved in?

When starting your journey at the bottom of a mountain whatever career you pursue, make sure you enjoy the journey because if you never reach your destination at least you will have stopped and savoured the views and adventures along the way.

It’s Women’s Business always like to peep in other business ladies wardrobes and beauty cupboards? Your favourite clothes shop or designer?

Surf dome

Local Restaurant Favourite or Favourite Food in general?

Love a good café – so Café Italia in Melton Mowbray.

Favourite Film at the end of a busy day?

Can’t beat a good chick flick. Easy viewing, like Mean Girls or Legally Blonde

Favourite Actor

Colin Farrell

Best Day

Anything that involves personal bests, winning or achieving something new

Worst Day

Seeing the price of food and petrol has gone up again!


Click Image to Download PDF

 

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Its been a fair while since I sat down and wrote a blog on my latest whereabouts and what I’ve been up too – sitting still has definitely not been the case! At the beginning of August I took the opportunity to get some pre-season cross training, in the south-west of France in Soustons. As well as using it as a camp it was also a bit of a holiday with my boyfriend Simon, as we decided to go on a road trip to the southern climes.

I’m normally one for strategic planning, whilst Simon is one for “freestyling” and seeing what happens. Whilst I knew we were camping I had no idea where until we parked up on our first night in a campsite just outside of Rouen. On the journey so far, I had been assured of how amazing the tent we were using was and that it was really easy to assemble. The next part of the fun came when it was time to put up the tent, Simon disappeared stating that he was going to buy some water and I was left to figure the tent out by myself! Rest assured when he returned back I’d managed to figure out which part was the tent, which were the pegs and that was it! I then found out the truth that Simon had no idea how the said tent was constructed just took the man’s word at the shop! After some fun and games we finally got the tent assembled and started our first camp fire BBQ!

The next day then saw us heading further south stopping off in Le Mans for lunch and admiring the beautiful architecture before continuing to our next overnight camping location near Poitiers. The French certainly know how to camp, and the campsite was amazing! First thing in the morning we went for a cycle to the local Boulangerie to blend in with the locals, before heading out kayaking on the lake at the campsite.

After our little paddle on the lake we continued down to our host in Leon, Landes at Villa Souvenir with Olympic rower Peter Sabrowsky. There were many reasons for choosing this location, firstly was the lake in Soustons for my rowing training, then we were 90-minutes from the big climbs in the pyrenees for cycling, as well as having the beach and lake in Leon on our doorstep for watersport activities galore!

So day one of camp began with an early morning run before breakfast. Simon & I found the most amazingly addictive muesli called captain crunch! After breakfast it was straight to the lake for a rowing training on the amazing Lac Soustons – truly beautiful location! Then cycling on the superb roads in the afternoon.

Every day involved a cross training activity of some kind after the daily run, row and cycle. We had a go at surfing, body boarding, canoeing (in the dark which resulted in me being hit by a rather large fish!), badminton, volleyball, tennis and a day in the trees at Adrenaline Parc the equivalent to a UK Go Ape.

Each evening we would also take turns to cook with the other guests or Peter’s amazing French chef Severine would come along and cook for us. It was a great opportunity to try other countries cuisines as it wasn’t just English people staying there. One evening we sat around the table with Dutch, German, Irish and French guests. Being able to speak a little bit of each of the languages I was able to pick out a few key words – and enough to always say please and thank you.

We also took the opportunity to head into the Pyrenees for a day of cycling – it has been one of my dreams to ride in the big mountains in France and today was my day to try and conquer the 2115m high Col du Tourmalet. Since leaving cycling to turn my hand at rowing, it would be fair to say there were a few demons lying within – however the one thing I love about climbing and being in the mountains is the chance to conquer them and find the answers which are so often right in front of you. To reach the top was a massive turning point for me – riding up the roads that the riders you admire and look up to were competing on just weeks before, their names still written on the tarmac – it was a great feeling. We did have chance to enjoy a slice of cake as a treat at the top of the mountain before enjoying the fabulous descent. Absolutely loved it!

The 10-days that we spent in Leon at Peter’s were superb, we couldn’t have asked for a better host. We both achieved everything we wanted out of the camp and hopefully for me it will set me up with a good foundation ready for the rest of the year. We will be back that’s for sure and planning our next trip for October.

Links:

http://www.villa-souvenir.com/gb/index.html

http://www.rowingcentersoustons.com/

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No Longer Pointless

Bex Rimmington, who only started training for-mally with the senior women‘s squad this win-ter won her first point in the WIM2 8+ in the morning steaming ahead of the competition and winning by more than 30 seconds. A few hours later she repeated the success with a decisive victory in the WIM3 coxed 4 and picked up her second point of the day.

(Page 12) http://www.nrcuk.org/documents/newsletters/NRC_Newsletter_2011_Summer.pdf

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Published on Thursday 14 July 2011 09:19

DON’T tell Bex Rimmington that trouble comes in threes.

It’s fair to say the driven Melton sportswoman has not enjoyed the kindest 12 months where luck is concerned.

But having endured the kind of ill fortune which would persuade most of us to curse the heavens and wave the white flag of surrender, Bex is back in her latest sporting odyssey.

It is testament to an almighty willpower and never-say-die pluck that the 28-year-old was last week brushing oars with Olympic athletes at the Henley Regatta, just months after being persuaded to give rowing a try.

She said: “I had a talent test with UK Sport who took my height and weight and said I would be perfect build for rowing, largely because of my leg strength. I was kind of interested so went over to Nottingham to give it a whirl.

“I did my first regatta and got to two firsts and was selected for Henley. I’m being fast-tracked by British Rowing at the moment which is quite exciting.”

Not that Bex, our newly crowned Sports Personality of the Year, will be getting carried away by dreams of medals and podium steps just yet, having seen two cycling dreams wrecked in quick succession.

Rewind 12 months and her dream ticket to compete at the sporting carnival of London 2012 seemed assured.

As a member of the British Paracycling Academy in Manchester, her passage to next summer’s Paralympics was in the bag.

As pilot of a tandem for a partially sighted rider, or stoker, Bex was ranked number one in the world and had a World Cup series win under her belt. She was finally savouring a life in elite sport, a pinnacle she had worked tirelessly towards for most of her life as swimmer, triathlete and latterly cyclist.

But, unbelievably, just one below-par result was enough to destroy all of that. They arrived at the World Championships as the team to beat and tactical riding from her rivals ensured they could only finish sixth.

And crucially, failure to claim a podium spot meant UK Sport became entitled to withdraw half of her funding.

She added: “I was concerned about the result. I asked my coaches and they said it will be OK, but when they finally sat down and told me the funding was cut, I knew then I couldn’t continue.”

After concerted appeals for emergency funding failed, and faced with only £6,000 a year to live on, she was forced to decamp home to Melton.

But a silver lining soon appeared on the horizon and a route back into top level cycling. Team bosses at leading British outfit Rapha Condor were happy to gain from the academy’s loss and offered Bex a full-time place as a paid professional on their seven-strong ladies’ team.

But a freak accident on a gentle club ride with Melton Olympic would soon see this next dream dashed. While waiting at a set of traffic lights, Bex’s neighbouring rider lost balance, knocking her to the ground and breaking the scaphoid bone in her wrist.

She said: “I knew instantly when I got up that something was wrong. I had to laugh because otherwise I would have just cried, but it did knock my confidence for a while.”

But when one door closes for Bex, another exciting sporting avenue opens up, and in this case rowing. Things have moved quickly and since first dipping her toe in the water at Holme Pierrepont, she is already lining up the British Championships, World Masters and GB trials.

She said: “Rebecca Romero won an Olympic gold medal in cycling after being a successful rower, and I’m hoping to do the same, just the other way round.”

http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/sport/other-sports/bex_s_2012_paralympic_cycling_dream_over_but_watch_out_rio_2016_1_2862044

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