Page 43 - Millfield 20 Stories

No. 20
SPORT FOR LIFE

“I was never the fastest, “Paradoxically, the tools I’d acquired at
strongest or most athletic. Millfield led me straight back to sport at
university. I became a rower, and almost
But I learned that if I worked every dawn could be found on the Thames.
the hardest, I didn’t need to “Fast-forward 18 months of discipline,
be. I had something more determination and the ultimate juggling
important: determination act and I was winning medals for Great
and a serious work ethic.” Britain’s Under-23 rowing team. Within
another 18 months I was training with
the Olympic team.
“As it happened, I applied them much
more in the classroom than the “Being part of Team GB for the 2012
sports field.” Olympics was an extraordinary experience.
Talking to some of the world’s greatest
For Team GB rower and Old Millfieldian, athletes, I realised that yes, they were the
Cameron Nichol, sport was never an right body-shape for their sport. But what
end in itself; it was (and is) a way of life. they had in common ran much deeper.
It equipped him with skills that went Each one worked incredibly hard, and had
well beyond the rowing regatta. sacrificed a lot to achieve their dreams.

“By 16 I’d fallen in love with science. I was “Having returned to medicine, I look back
also a people person and problem-solver, on my dream of winning an Olympic
which steered me towards medicine. gold medal and see the most powerful
Sport was never something I aimed to motivational tool I’ve ever experienced.
excel at. Rather, it provided me with an And I know that the key to doing great
outlet from the pressures of academia work in medicine lies here too: not in
and my busy mind. It was my meditation; aptitude, but in the will to succeed. My
my ‘me’ time. goal is to inspire people to prioritise
health over wealth – and to realise that
movement really is medicine.”