In the gym with Sophie Carrigill: meet the wheelchair basketball star
If you're mourning the end of the Olympics, dry your tears – because an equally gripping sporting extravaganza is kicking off today in Paris: the Paralympics! And Team GB is ready to smash it on the gold medal front, including in the wheelchair basketball stakes – which athlete Sophie Carrigill tells Cosmopolitan UK has been her sole focus and biggest dream for the last few years, ever since the Tokyo Paralympics sadly didn't go the team's way.
"There's no skirting over that. In Tokyo, we underperformed," Sophie says honestly, describing how that loss has been her fuel this time around. "It was a difficult time, with Covid and everything, and a lot of us are coming into these Games thinking this is time for redemption. It's time to prove to ourselves that we are absolutely not that team."
As for just how Sophie has been getting prepped in the run up to this career-defining moment, it's involved getting both her body and mind in the best shape possible, she says, revealing that she even has an alter ego mode that she slips into before heading onto the court.
Here, the 30-year-old, who also repped Team GB in the 2016 Paralympics (where they placed fourth), explains her life in fitness and food, and shares what wellbeing looks like as a pro wheelchair basketball player.
How does Sophie Carigill train?
Don't let yourself be discouraged
Sophie became a wheelchair user at the age of 16, back in 2010, after a car accident left her with a spinal cord injury. Prior to this, team sports (such as netball and hockey) had been a huge part of her life. Following her rehabilitation, just one year down the line, the athlete decided to seek out a new activity to fall in love with – with the help of the Back Up Trust, a charity which supports those with spinal cord injuries in rebuilding their lives and confidence.
"I'm very lucky to be alive with the injuries I had, but I also sustained a spinal cord injury which left me paralysed from the waist down," says Sophie. "After recovering from my accident and getting back to normal life, I realised I still wanted to play sport. I was really lucky that my first club was literally 10 minutes away from where I was living [in Leeds] at the time."
Despite being "terrible" to begin with, Sophie stuck at it and says she was "determined that I was going to be better and not be as terrible as I was the first time, so I just kept going back". Eventually, she got scouted by the Team GB coaches, who invited her to join the wider squad ahead of the 2012 Paralympics.
Commit to the sport – and then some
After being scouted, Sophie recalls one of the coaches "telling her 'If you commit everything and work really hard, you've got a really good chance of competing in Rio', and I was like 'Right, that's decided then!'. From then on, I basically made every decision [in my life] revolve around basketball". For Sophie, this meant moving to Worcester, where the centralised training programme was based, and deliberately choosing a university close by. These days, she also regularly attends training camps where playing basketball with her team is the sole focus.
She loves a SkiErg machine
Well, kind of. "I actually have a real love-hate relationship with the machine!" Sophie laughs, explaining that she can spend the bulk of her solo gym time on one. "In terms of accessible gym equipment and what's good for cardio, it's by far the best. So I love it for that, but I hate it when I'm on it because it's hard. I actually have one in my garage now."
Exercise with supportive women
As well as having a modest home workout area, Sophie says that switching to a female-only gym has been a game changer for her 3 to 4 times a week fitness sessions. "I find it's so empowering, being around all these incredible women who are just trying to better themselves in one way or another," Sophie shares. "I'm sharing the gym with [all kinds of women] even grandmas, which I just absolutely love."
Work harder (not for longer)
As well as her solo strength sessions, Sophie also has on-court training to attend with her fellow players – which involves doing plenty of drills to up her agility and speed. "Court sessions will be a lot of shooting or technical drills in my chair, I have a section in my training that's just drills," she reveals. "It might be a circuit that takes 20 minutes, then an hour of shooting."
It's all about efficiency, Sophie adds: "I'm a firm believer that you don't have to spend hours doing something if you do it well the first time, and if you're pushing yourself every single time."
What is Sophie Carigill's diet like?
Chocolate milk is king
As are snacks post-workout in general. "Recovery comes in lots of different forms and we're really lucky that we've got a team behind us who literally support us with snacks," Sophie says – adding that chocolate milk is a favourite given it's so high in protein. Cereal bars, Soreen and bananas are also welcome, she notes.
Eggs = winning breakfast
Unlike some athletes, Sophie isn't superstitious about what she eats ahead of a game... but if she had her way, it'd probably involve scrambled eggs and a cuppa. "My perfect breakfast would be a bagel and some really nice, creamy scrambled eggs. And a cup of tea. I absolutely cannot start the day without a cup of tea, I don't feel human until I've had one."
Another favourite is chicken sausages cooked in the air fryer. High protein and time efficient? Sign us up!
Mindset tips from Sophie Carigill
Carve out time away from your sport
Switching off from time to time is really important, Sophie explains. "I think sometimes when you're in camp and it's full on, you can easily forget that you're an actual human outside of being an athlete. I'm very much not just 'Sophie the basketball player', and so while I will spend the evenings watching footage back from the day or a game, I'll also make sure to connect with my family and friends."
She adds that her roommate is one of her best mates too, so they'll get busy planning a holiday or something fun to do away from basketball, which is key for maintaining good mental health.
Have an alter ego
As well as having regularly scheduled breaks from basketball, Sophie has also crafted an on-court persona that she can switch in and out of before and after a game – keeping her personal and athletic life somewhat separate. "I tell myself to be a bad bitch, when normally I don't like confrontation so much," she confesses. "But when I get on a court, I'm a different woman. She's scary! It's an identity thing we've worked on as a team, to have that aggression, confidence and energy. It's like Beyonce and Sasha Fierce."
To ensure she doesn't forget that mentality, Sophie has even written herself a reminder on her water bottles. "Every time take a drink, I'm like 'Yeah, you're a bad bitch!'." Erm, we're obsessed?
There's no room for excuses (but there is for modifications)
We all experience days when lacing up our trainers feels more of a slog, but Sophie says she tries not to let herself reach that point – and on the days that she does need a boost, she deploys a clever trick. "Because I'm so driven in the goals that I want to achieve, I've worked quite hard on not even letting myself get [to the point where I feel I can't be bothered], but in the past, when we used to train at 7am every single morning and I was a student, I would put my clothes on my bed the night before. So I literally just got my clothes on and would be like, 'Right, this is what I'm doing!' and I always think 'You'll feel better after doing something anyway'."
That's not to say she doesn't allow tweaks to her training though. "If you're carrying some fatigue, say off the back of camp, modifying your work out so that the volume's not as high, but you're still getting it in, can be a big help. I'm 12 years into this sport now and I really know my body, which is the most important thing – that you listen to your body and what it's telling you."
The Paralympic Games will run from 28 August – 8 September 2024. Find out more about Team GB here.
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