22
Aug

Matrix Sponsored Scholarship Student – Laura Macro

Laura Macro is a Lightweight Rower currently studying Sport and Exercise at the University of Bath. Here, Laura gives an insight into her achievements before giving her top 5 training tips on Friday.

In her own words Laura tells us about herself:

I attended secondary school in Plymouth, at Devonport High School for Girls. There, I represented in cross country running to county level before I suffered a minor ankle injury and after which I stopped competing. However, being deeply invested in sport, I was looking for alternatives and came across rowing. I joined Plymouth Amateur Rowing Club and from the age of 14 until my final year of secondary school, with the help of coach Kev Sellar, my new hobby developed into an obsession!

Upon obtaining a place at the University of Bath to study Biology, following a few months of training with the senior women’s squad and with my aspirations with rowing ever increasing, I started coaching with Dan Harris. Dan kindly offered a huge helping hand by offering me the chance to come and train with the start athletes on the water each morning. This gave me a huge boost, leading me on to my first big achievement – a Gold Medal in the intermediate lightweight single scull at BUCS regatta, followed by progressing to the quarter finals at Henley women’s regatta a couple of months later.

By the end of the year, I had solidly set my focus on training for the GB rowing team trials for the following season. I also made the decision to start afresh with my degree course, having realised that Sport and Exercise Science far better suited my interests. I also applied for the dual career programme at Bath for the following year and put forward an application for a scholarship – anticipating the growing costs of increasing my training and competitions if I wanted to work towards my goal.

However I was definitely not expecting to be rewarded with a scholarship – let alone one so generous as was offered to me by Matrix – I was ecstatic when given the news! The financial support has been crucial to me this year to be able to attend training camps, costly competitions such as Henley, and also purchasing of key equipment such as a protective boat cover to prevent damage while travelling.

Matrix also kindly gifted me with a set of super smart kit which I love; I’m often seen sporting the Matrix T-shirt in the gym for S & C sessions – it’s a firm favourite! Furthermore their welcoming, supportive approach has made me feel well integrated into part of their team, at the same time helping to introduce me to the wider realm of high performance sport outside of the rowing world! I’ve had a really fantastic year with huge thanks to Matrix, and I hope that I can reflect well upon them in the coming season.

See what Bath University has to offer here.