Abbey's story is one of perseverance and all about rediscovering her love for sport
Growing up in Dundas, Ontario, Abbey Maillet was a very active child, always ready to do anything with the outdoors, biking, hiking, running and all things that involved being active.
Through those activities and all the rep sports she played, one thing was clear: she strived in competition. She despised losing and never wanted to let other people pass her. Combining that with her love for the outdoors, Abbey found herself on her high school rowing team. Her drive and determination pushed her to train hard and push herself to be the best she could be. All that hard work would eventually pay off, and the results came from medals and personal best. When it came time to start looking at what came after high school, rowing was at the forefront. With all options open to her throughout Ontario, Abbey found the combination of a reputable Sports Psychology program and a good rowing team offered by Sudbury's Laurentian University was the place for her.
Once she arrived, she found success in and out of the water. Rowing 2 of her first 3 years at school (2019, 2021), she maintained a high GPA on top of great finishes in the water. In 2019, she placed 6th place at the Ontario University Athletics Championship (OUA). She then would return two years later to stand on top of the podium, winning the Women’s Lightweight single event. She followed that outstanding performance by making the podium and finishing third at Nationals. She would be recognized as Laurentian Female Athlete of the year that following spring.
After all that hard work, Abbey welcomed the opportunity to get back at it and defend her 2021 title. But unfortunately, the boat that Abbey had been racing with since her first year was found to be damaged before the 2022 season had even opened. Without the proper equipment and not many options available, Abbey knew that her chance of defending the title was over before the season even started.
She felt devastated; it was one of the most challenging moments of her life, she described but being the passionate, driven athlete she had always been, she was not going to let this situation stop her from being a Varsity Athlete.
In September, she had reached out to Darren Jermyn about training with the cross country team (XC) to keep active and do something she enjoyed; running. Darren, who Abbey gives a lot of credit for helping her, said, “Your welcome to train, but if you train, you have to compete.” Having competed at OFSAA in high school and done cross-training for rowing for a better part of a decade, she was confident she could hold her own.
She started working immediately. While training, without even realizing it when she began, joining the XC allowed her to do something she had done since high school; train in a team environment. Rowing is mostly an individual sport. It’s the boat, the racer and the coach. Her early mornings and challenging training sessions were no longer done alone. Having people to support her and to hang out with through the tough mental and physical training sessions is something that helped more than most people know.
Although disappointed that she couldn’t defend her OUA title, Abbey can only look back and be thankful for that journey that got her here; some days training out on the water felt more isolating than enjoyable, and her switch to cross country allowed her to remember what it was like to enjoy being a university athlete. The lessons she learned this year would help her continue growing as an athlete and person.
As she looks to graduate and hopefully enroll in teacher’s college, the opportunity to row at the OUA level is still possible. Still, now the goals aren’t just going to be podium finishes but more learning and training to enjoy the sport for life.