Exploration

Lessons from badass women in fitness and adventure

From kayaking the continent to performing 7,015 consecutive burpees, meet the women who believe no challenge is too great – provided you put your mind to it...

By Nyla Sammons

6 min readPublished on 04/22/2019 · 9:08 AM UTC

When it comes to life lessons, you'd struggle to find 10 women better to speak to than those featured in photographer Nyla Sammons' latest portrait series.

Exhibited at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf, 'Tough Women in Sport and Adventure' celebrates 10 women who had gone beyond the ordinary to push boundaries and break world records in the adventure and fitness space.

The series featured two portraits of each woman, one taken in a studio and the other on location. Here their portraits come to life as the women share the greatest things they've learned from pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, whether that's rowing the Atlantic solo, or riding an ancient motorbike 2000 miles down Indochina's Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Pip Stewart

Pip’s greatest sporting challenge was cycling 10,000 miles from Malaysia to London over 13 months, and across 26 countries. It was this journey that showed her that endurance challenges aren't physical but mental. With each mile she became stronger, fitter and crucially more mentally resilient. The grit she developed on that long journey enabled her to do a world-first paddle down the Essequibo River in South America in 2018.

Pip’s greatest life lesson: You don't have to be the fittest, strongest or fastest to achieve in the world of adventure – I am certainly none of these things. It's about grit and an ability to learn. If you can't laugh at yourself when you're learning (and likely messing up) a new skill, you're not going to get very far. For me adventure is about pushing to the corners of yourself and growing as a result.

Kiko Matthews

In 2018, Kiko rowed across the Atlantic solo, breaking the previous world record by seven days and raising over £100,000 for London's King's College Hospital, which had saved her life with successful treatment for a brain tumour.

Kiko Matthews smashed the former Atlantic rowing record by a week
© Kiko Matthews

Kiko’s greatest life lesson: Adventure helps you deal with and love the unknown. Challenges you face in adventure help build resilience in your everyday life. If you can overcome 50ft waves and 49 days alone at sea, pretty much anything is possible after that.

Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent

Antonia’s biggest challenge was riding a small, ancient motorbike (called the Pink Panther) 2000 miles down the mud and mountains of Indochina's legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail. Four new engine rebuilds and a close shave with a Vietnam War-era cluster bomb were just a few of the adventures Antonia had along the way.

Antonia’s greatest life lesson: Anything is possible if you put your mind to it – and boy are we capable of SO much more than we think. There's nothing like having to fix your bike, alone, in the jungle, to make you realise that.

Adventure is about pushing to the corners of yourself and growing as a result
Pip Stewart

Laura Kennington

Laura’s greatest adventure challenge was solo cycling 3,700 miles, through eight countries, from Scotland to Norway in 2018. She started off in Scotland, weaving her way down the UK and then over to France. From there she pedalled her way through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, finishing off in Norway.

Laura’s greatest life lesson: The human body is a powerhouse of possibilities; we are all capable of much more than we think. Don’t let the inner critic drive, it will never lead you to anywhere worth going. Lastly, never turn down an opportunity to eat ice cream!

Anoushé Husain

Anoushé ranked 2nd overall in her disability category in Paraclimbing less than a year after she started indoor climbing in 2016. In 2017, she indoor climbed the height of Mt Everest. At the time, an eight-minute walk was leaving her out of breath and dizzy. Even today, on a bad day, walking eight minutes is still impossible but she still trains and gets on the climbing wall.

Anoushé’s greatest life lesson: You are the only one who holds the keys to unlocking your potential and making your impossibles possible. There are so many days when things won’t go right, it’s on those days that making the choice to get back up and keep trying is crucial. It’s that perseverance that will lead you to your goals.

Emma Kirk-Odunubi

Emma lives a sporty lifestyle. Her greatest fitness achievement to date would be completing 24 hours of burpees and raising over £1000 for charity in the process. She completed a staggering 7,015 burpees and was the youngest to ever attempt it.

Emma’s greatest life lesson: Sport and adventure shows your true strength and that your mind can achieve anything. Even when your body can’t keep going, your mind can help you push on even further. Mind over matter always.

There are so many days when things won’t go right, it’s on those days that making the choice to get back up and keep trying is crucial.
Anoushé Husain

Laura Hoggins

Laura’s greatest achievement to date would be making the transition from Strongwoman to marathon runner in 16 weeks. After spending years focusing on her strength development and Strongman event training, she has worked hard to turn herself into an endurance runner and is due to take on the London Marathon this year.

Laura’s greatest life lesson: Put one foot in front of the other. Whenever things get tough, what do we do? Do we quit? Do we give up? Or do we just focus on the immediate task at hand: every rep, every step, every metre. Each small step counts towards achieving your goal, and tough women dare to step somewhere uncomfortable, mentally and physically.

Anna Blackwell

In 2018 Anna participated in a kayaking the continent expedition. As part of a two women team she spent five months tandem kayaking from London to the Black Sea in Romania. A distance of over 4,000km which took them through eleven countries and five capital cities.

Anna’s greatest life lesson: The biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of not letting other people’s fears and doubts stop you from pursuing your dream or passion.

Beth French

Ultra-distance swimmer Beth is still the only person to swim from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly – against the Atlantic current.

Beth’s greatest life lesson: Having recovered from ME and learning to trust and love my body through adventure, I found the courage to believe my voice is as important, not just as anyone else’s, but as important and valid as everyone else’s.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of not letting other people’s fears and doubts stop you from pursuing your dream or passion.
Anna Blackwell

Ruqsana Begum

Ruqsana’s greatest sporting adventure is fighting for a professional world title while struck down with ME, relying completely on her maturity and willpower to win this once-in-a-lifetime fight after 13 years of hard work. It was all or nothing, letting go of fear and doubts and visualising the win before she stepped into the ring.

Ruqsana’s greatest life lesson: Failure is a big contributor of success – it’s there to get us closer to our goal and learn the lessons needed. It’s not how many times you get knocked down it’s how many times you can pick yourself back up.