Sport and rowing is my life! I have been myself a top level athlete, a youth coach and top athletics coach. Currently I am the youth coach at Pärnu Rowing Club and an active master class rower. In 2016 being 50 years old I rowed from Tallinn to Helsinki for my project “My Everest”. Knowingly this was the first time in history that that distance was passed in a rowing boat by a woman. I used a special sea rowing boat Lite Boat to cross this distance. It was a fantastic experience and it taught me a lot.
This year Taimi contacted me and told me about her idea inspired by what I have achieved. She was hoping that due to my experience I would be able to help her and Arvo on their road to fulfilling their dream. I have always liked the sentence: “Our dreams should be bigger than ourselves”, so I agreed to participate in their project. What adds more excitement to this project in my opinion is that Arvo has never rowed before, a total novice! This spring will be the first time he will have even sat in a rowing boat!
My role in Fin-Est Friendship Rowing project is to mentor both Taimi and Arvo, coordinate the more practical sides and help wherever I am competent enough. We have a wonderful team, a good cause and an important message for the public. Everything is possible and the only ones in our way are ourselves. During the project “My Everest” a lot of relatives, friends and even strangers helped me and I value that help highly. I am glad that now it is my turn to help Taimi and Arvo.
