Hello Rowan! Why don’t you start by telling us more about yourself?
My name is Rowan Hossam Elbadry, born in 1995 in Alexandria, Egypt. I have two brothers. Both of my parents were athletes. My mom was a great swimmer and she is still participating in the masters championship, while my dad is an active tennis player.
I started swimming at the age of four in Alexandria Sporting Club along with trying many other sports like tennis, basketball, handball, and gymnastics. At the age of 10, I had to decide between tennis and swimming, and I chose swimming.
Interesting! Tell us about your swimming journey
At the age of eleven, I won my first Egyptian national medal, and by the age of twelve, I was a part of the national team for more than twelve years.
I broke few national records throughout my swimming career, participated in junior world swimming championship in Peru 2011, and won medals in African and Arab games.
At the age of seventeen in my senior year, I received a sports scholarship to the United States and went to university for a year then came back to Egypt and graduated from industrial and management engineering.
Swimming was an intense sport. I used to workout for 5-6 hours for 6 days per week. I had morning and afternoon sessions along with fitness and weightlifting sessions. Morning sessions were at 5:30. It was always challenging, especially in the winter when everyone was under the cover while I was getting ready to jump into the water when it was raining. It was mentally and physically challenging to have to cope with practice, studying, and having a social life!
That’s an impressive journey! When did you make it into the world of fitness, then?
In 2019, I graduated from engineering and at the time I had to quit swimming due to a shoulder injury that I had since I was 12 years old; it wasn’t getting better anymore. At the same time I moved to Cairo. Everything was overwhelming. I felt lost! I started to workout on my own, writing my own program at the gym, and had an opportunity to coach swimming and fitness. In 2020 corona hit and i was at home without a job so i started sending to my neighbors that i’m starting fitness sessions in the garden where I live and I was surprised how many people had joined and were consistent for years. I fell in love with how you can affect people’s lives in a good way and have an impact on them. So, I decided to get certified as a Personal trainer and a nutrition coach. In 2021, I worked in a gym for few months, then, I worked at Befit as a personal trainer almost a year ago. It is now my home!
Amazing! Finding your way through every challenge! And I believe this part takes us next to your Elfit victory. Tell us about it.
I started CrossFit 7 months ago. I just wanted a goal for training so I decided to register for ELFIT. All I thought about at the time was that I wanted to have fun and enjoy something new. After the qualifications, I was surprised that I placed 1st and became on top of the list which made me want to push even harder in practice! I worked out 2-3 hours per day for 6 days a week. I tried to always push myself in movements I was not great at to improve! Even on days when I didn’t want to practice, I always thought about how every little thing will count towards improvement and this is how i pushed myself and gave it my all.
Winning ELFIT and standing on the podium brought back so much, reviving that success feeling i missed throughout my swimming career. All i thought of was every single time I had pushed myself has payed off. It’s just the start 💪🏼
Impressive! You must have learned a lot throughout your journey.
I learned along the way that passion and persistence is what kept me going all these years. My passion for swimming created who I am as a character. My persistence made me get through all the drawbacks of injuries. Change and being a competitive athlete is what shaped my mindset to always want to be better and eager to learn and achieve more.
And you really are. What is your vision or what are your future goals?
I always want to Inspire people and have an impact on their life because inspiration is not something that lives and dies with one person; it’s how you can inspire a person who can in turn inspire another and this is how you create something that lasts forever. This is what i found in being an athlete and a coach and the blessing here is how our story can impact others to create their own greatness in their own way.
