HOOPER Bayleigh

Canada
Rowing
21 Sep 1998
22
Female
PR3
 
Canada

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
ROW Rowing PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - PR3Mix4+
CAN
Canada
 8

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Sea Forest Waterway
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - PR3Mix4+ Heat 1
#7
Finished
Sea Forest Waterway
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - PR3Mix4+ Repechage 1
#15
Finished
Sea Forest Waterway
PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - PR3Mix4+ Final B
#20
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
RankEventYearLocationResult
World Championships
4PR3 Mixed Coxed Four - PR3Mix4+2018Plovdiv, BUL7:10.21
:
B (Instagram profile, 20 Aug 2021)
:
Cycling, baking, watching TV. (rowingcanada.org, 01 Mar 2021; paralympic.ca, 01 Sep 2018)
:
Athlete
:
Psychology - Trent University, Peterborough, ON, CAN
:
English
:
Peterborough Rowing Club [Canada]
:
John Wetzstein [national], CAN
:
Her parents Bob and Mijka run Dancemakers, a dance and gymnastics school in Owen Sound, ON, Canada. They also established SportMakers Fitness and Training Centre in Owen Sound. Bob competed in cross-country running for the University of Toronto, while Mijka was a provincial gymnastics champion in Canada in 1986. (dancemakers.ca, 01 Mar 2021; paralympic.ca, 01 Sep 2018)
:
She competed in gymnastics as a teenager and won a level 8 provincial championship title in Canada in 2016. She competed in able-bodied rowing for Trent University in Canada. (paralympic.ca, 01 Sep 2018; rowingcanada.org, 01 Mar 2021; owensoundsuntimes.com, 06 Jun 2021; trentvarsity.ca, 01 Sep 2018)
:
She began rowing in 2017 at age 18, through a novice programme when she was a first-year student at Trent University in Peterborough, ON, Canada. She took up Para rowing in 2018. (rowingcanada.org, 01 Mar 2021; owensoundsuntimes.com, 06 Jun 2021; Athlete, 22 Aug 2021)
:
After taking up rowing in 2017, she helped the Trent University novice women's eight team to a gold medal at the Ontario University Athletics [OUA] Championships the same year. Her university coach Carol Love then suggested she pursue Para rowing. "I thought about it, was lucky enough to get classified, and from there it was about slowly chipping away at that goal. Having Carol take me under her wing really pushed and motivated me, and that's when I received the invitation to row out west [for the national team]. Once getting into rowing, I always wanted to see how far I could go. I'm a person that once I get something into my head or someone says I can't do it, I want to go prove to them that I can do it." (rowingcanada.org, 01 Mar 2021; owensoundsuntimes.com, 06 Jun 2021; trentu.ca, 18 Jun 2021)
:
To record a time of less than seven minutes in the mixed PR3 coxed four at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (ottawasportspages.ca, 18 Aug 2021; saltwire.com, 14 Jun 2021)
:
Securing her place to compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games. (Athlete, 22 Aug 2021)
:
Coach Carol Love. (owensoundsuntimes.com, 06 Jun 2021)
:
"Para athletes and able-bodied athletes are on the exact same level. They're both competing against the best of the best, and I want to defy the odds and bring out that message. Just because we have a quote-on-quote disability, does not mean that we are any less, or that we don't work just as hard." (trentu.ca, 18 Jun 2021)
:
In 2020 she was inducted into the Owen Sound Sports Hall of Fame in Canada. (owensoundsuntimes.com, 27 Jan 2020; paralympic.ca, 01 Sep 2018)

General Interest

Classification
PR3 (World Rowing, 21 Aug 2021)

General
GYMNASTICS AND DANCE
She says her involvement in gymnastics and dancing as a teenager provided her with skills and physical attributes that benefit her rowing. "With gym there is obviously tumbling on the floor, and a vault, which partly gave me the strength in my legs, because in rowing your legs are your biggest muscles. They are kind of like the motor in a motorboat. I think dance really gave me the ability to feel the water well, to know what is going on around me and to be able to pick things up quick enough and take corrections and apply them. I think dance has helped me a lot." (owensoundsuntimes.com, 06 Jun 2021)

FINAL APPOINTMENT
In December 2020 she had her final appointment at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, ON, Canada, where she had been treated for the past 22 years. "Feeling bittersweet as I say goodbye to my journey at Sick Kids. Today marked my final appointment and therefore my 'graduation' from this amazing place. The past 22 years have been nothing but positive thanks to my team of incredible surgeons, doctors, nurses and medical staff. I know the beginning was a little scary, but look where we ended up." (Instagram profile, 22 Dec 2020)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Content 1 (removed through CDN)
Content 2 (removed through CDN).
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos