Freya Roger was born and grew up in Brill, she attended Lord Williams's School from 1971 - 1978 before moving to South East London.
Below she tells her inspiring story.
I came up with the idea for Freyathlon during the UK’s Women’s Sport Week 2015. There was a lot of chat and a lot of writing about why women did or didn’t get involved in sport, and I realised how much my life had changed when I was, and wasn’t, able to be active.
Like many women, I didn’t really enjoy sport at school and I stopped doing any organised sport as soon as I left school. But, wherever I’ve lived (including three years in Sydney), I’ve always cycled and walked because nothing beats the freedom and
independence of moving through the world by bike or by foot.
When I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2012, my world grew small and travel was mainly between home and hospital for tests, procedures, and appointments. And when I began chemotherapy, delivered as a hospital inpatient in an isolation room, my world became even smaller. In less than a month I went from cycling to and from work every day to lying in a hospital bed for days on end, working my way through Breaking Bad, and relying on visitors for news of the outside world.
I had six months of gruelling and exhausting chemotherapy, which ended in 2013 and I moved into remission, which is where I still am. You might think that would be a time to celebrate but anyone who’s been through cancer treatment will tell you
reaching that point is like falling off a cliff. The discovery I couldn’t walk upstairs without sitting down on the top step to catch my breath was brutal. I decided my priority had to be rebuilding my health and fitness. I started by walking to the end of the street, gradually increasing the distance until I could walk to my local café. After a few months I felt able to think about getting
back on my bike and I joined a spin studio to make sure I had the strength and stamina to cycle back home once I did get my bike back out of the shed.
One year after diagnosis and six months after finishing treatment, I cycled 52 miles in LondonBikeathon. One year later I joined WaveWalkers, London’s first dragon boat team for people affected by cancer, and in May 2015 (and again in May
2016) I paddled 35kms with Wavewalkers in Vogalonga, an annual event in Venice for non-motorised boats and crafts.
I’m having a blast trying sports that didn’t exist when I was growing up, mountain biking, sports I’ve always wondered about, modern pentathlon, and sports that have really tested me, marathon swimming.
I've now completed 39 of 41 sports. I'm working my way through the athletics and I'll be completing the sailing next week so I'm on track to complete Freyathlon by 21 August. What will I do after Freyathlon? As someone who'd never swum a stroke of front crawl before January this year, and has learned how to swim front crawl, swim distances, swim in a wet suit, and swim in open water, I've discovered how much I enjoy swimming! I plan to spend more time in the water, getting faster and gaining more open water experience.
Freyathlon is all about giving it a go and if one person joins me in giving an activity a go, I’ll be happy.
You can keep up to date with Freya's progress by checking out her social media pages below:
Blog: www.freyathlon.com/
Twitter and Instagram: @freyathlon
Facebook: Freyathlon
