WORCESTER, Mass. — Rowing through Worcester County and Greater Boston, Holden resident Aisyah Rafaee has spent the last few years training for the Paris Olympics.


What You Need To Know

  • Holden resident Aisyah Rafaee will be competing in the Womens' Single Scull for Singapore in the Paris Olympics this summer.

  • Born and raised in Singapore, the 36-year-old has been competing as a rower for 20 years.

  • In 2016, Rafaee became the first Singaporean rower to qualify for the Olympic games in Rio.

  • Rafaee works full-time in Boston as a rowing instructor while also working as a mental skills coach. 

Born and raised in Singapore, the 36-year-old said she has been competing as a rower for 20 years.

And while she has qualified to compete against the worlds best, the sport did not come easy to her.

"I must say rowing was not love at first sight," said Rafaee. "Because it was the same struggle over and over again, and when I was on the boat it was tippy, so I spent more time in the water than I did in the boat."

Eventually Rafaee did adjust and in 2016 became the first Singaporean rower to qualify for the Olympic games in Rio.

But it was a very difficult experience for her.

"In that preparation, I was also experiencing this time thing called 'choking,'" she said. "Where at the start line I just forgot ... I couldn't perform. My muscles were so tense."

Rafaee retired from competing shortly after the 2016 Olympics and moved to Massachusetts, where she completed her master's at Springfield College.

She then began working full-time in Boston as a rowing instructor for ‘Hydrow’ while also working as a mental skills coach before her love of competition returned.

"But whenever I started to think about competing, I didn't like it," she said. "So it took me a while to actually get back into racing, so I did some fun races and I realized, I'm still pretty fit, I'm still pretty good at it so that's what motivated me to try out for the Olympic Games this year."

Rafaee will be competing in the Womens' Single Scull for Singapore this summer.

Eight years ago she struggled with performance anxiety and nearly gave up on competing forever. 

This time, she said her goal in Paris will be to improve her ranking and stay in the moment.

"I remember at Rio I was continuously telling myself, 'what a great day to be alive. I'm so blessed to be here,'" she said. "And I want to repeat that as well. Knowing I have this opportunity again to compete at the Olympic level."