The last time I was out on the reservoir, I was less than graceful, so I was hoping this time I didn’t end up swimming.

Judo is like a mixture of wrestling and aikido. While I wasn’t particularly exceptional at either of those sports, I was praying they would provide me a solid foundation to get started in judo.

From the moment I walked in, I could feel the enormous amount of passion and dedication members of the Calgary Skip Squad had for skipping.

When I first think of martial arts, karate is the first discipline that comes to mind. Growing up, so many of my favourite shows contained aspects of karate. The actors made it look so easy, making quick work of the would-be villains, or chopping wooden boards in half like butter.

Aikido [īˈkēdō] was my first martial art of the summer.

The first time I arrived at the Calgary Rowing Club, I was infatuated by the picturesque view of row boats lining the Glenmore Reservoir. The landscape looked eerily similar to my computer background.

Growing up, I loved Zorro. No matter the occasion, you would find me there all dressed up, sword and all.

“How can you be bad at running?” That’s what I was thinking when I was out of breath one kilometre into the run.

Not good at learning new sports? No excuses here as it only takes a few minutes (five for me) to learn the basics. Think of it as a mix of curling and bowling on grass. What better way to get a tan and make some new friends than through this sport?

Leading up to the day, I was a bit (a lot) nervous, as I have never played football or rugby in my life. How hard could it be though?

“Am I in Dublin or Calgary?”- That was my first thought when I first arrived at the pitch where the Calgary Chieftains practice.

Ever since I cut my foot open on a culvert when I was swimming in a ditch by my farm, water and I have not had the best relationship.

I was born in the founding country of cricket, so I had my hopes that this would somehow make me a natural (spoiler: it didn’t).

No Disability Needed

Catch me at the (pickleball) court

Swinging my way through summer.

The Oval was the first indoor speed skating venue used at an Olympics. I was told by Oval staff that it is known to be one of the fastest and best quality speed skating surfaces in the world!

Overloaded with confidence, I headed into Geng Table Tennis Academy, where I was very quickly humbled after playing against owner Horatio Pintea. The table tennis professional made me look foolish! I couldn’t rally let alone return a serve against Horatio, who chuckled as he sent a spinning fast serve right by me. Horatio represented Canada for nearly twenty years including World Championships, Pan Am Games and the Olympics.