We recently caught up with SMU alumna and 2x Gold Paralympic winner Corrine Hall ahead of her third Paralympic Games in Paris.
Corrine is a tandem pilot for Lora Fachie, with the pair having already won two Gold medals, a Silver, and a Bronze in para-cycling events at the Rio and Tokyo Games.
At St Mary’s, Corrine studied Sports Science and graduated in 2013. We spoke to her about her time at the University as well as her journey to becoming a 4x medal winner at the Paralympic Games.
How did you find your time at St Mary’s?
I loved it. It took me a while to feel settled as I was already an athlete and didn't necessarily want to go to university, but St Mary's was the perfect University for me to go to. A lot of my friends were runners as St Mary's is a big running base, so I quickly felt like I fit in with the other athletes and I received so much support from all the staff. I still keep in touch with many friends that I met at St Mary’s, as well as quite a few of the lecturers that helped me during my time.
What makes St Mary’s special is that it's quite a small university but everything you could want is there. What we lack in size, we have in everything else. It really is a world class University.
What’s your favourite memory from St Mary’s?
Probably when I won St Mary’s Sportswoman of the Year. One of my course friends nominated me without telling me, so to be awarded it was pretty incredible. I unfortunately wasn't able to collect it on the night as I was away racing on the tandem, but fortunately my friend who nominated me was able to go on my behalf which was pretty special.
How did you get into cycling, and then how did you become a tandem pilot for Lora?
As a kid I did absolutely every sport possible, and I've been a cyclist since the age of 12. I actually went to a triathlon exhibition when I was 12 where British Cycling were doing some talent spots. I was definitely that annoying kid that did the testing about 20 times to make sure that I had a good time. From there, I got a call to go through the selection process and I joined the GB under 16 team at the age of 13. I then progressed to the juniors but didn’t quite make it to the under 23 level. That's when I went to university, with the idea of still training full-time while getting a degree.
At the London 2012 Paralympics, I saw the time trial round for the tandems and remember thinking that'd be pretty cool to do. But at the time you don't really have any idea how to get involved in it. We had our track nationals just after the London Paralympics finished and I ended up winning the points race national title. Off the back of that, I received a message from the lead paracycling coach at the time, asking if I wanted to give the tandem a go. That was in September, and I went to a tandem training camp in Mallorca in March 2013. I've been on the tandem ever since.
How hard was it adjusting to riding on a tandem?
I was that naïve person that thought it would be really easy just to jump on, as I'm a very confident solo bike rider. However, our first ride on the tandem was so funny. We started riding and the bike was just twitching left to right, I remember thinking that I don't know how I'm going to make it through this ride. But I picked it up quite quickly to be fair, and it’s such a lovely bike to ride because there's two of you on it so you pick up speed quickly and the bike just flows.
What was it like balancing university work with your cycling?
It was tough. I’ll quite happily admit that cycling was the priority at the time, so it took a while to get the balance. St Mary’s was really good and supportive, especially in my third year when I was trying to graduate, write my dissertation, and do my cycling. There were a couple of lecturers that really supported me throughout it, and I was able to get the balance fine.
When you've done a training session and you've got to quickly get to a lecture, you feel like you've achieved something.
Did you do any student sport at St Mary’s? If so, what did you think of the facilities?
In my final year, I did the SIMMSport coaching with a friend. We coached athletics on a Saturday morning, which was really fun. It was nice to focus on something separate from university work and cycling, and it was really enjoyable coaching the kids.
The sporting facilities at St Mary’s are incredible. I was fortunate that I got some really good strength and conditioning support at the University, so I was in the gym a couple of times a week with one of the coaches. I also received really good physio and psychological support as well, and the facilities are world class.
How does it feel going into your third Paralympic Games and as 2x Gold medal winner, versus your very first Games?
It feels different but similar at the same time. The Paralympics is the biggest event in the world for us on the tandem, so going into my first Games was a crazy feeling. Now, I'm older and more experienced but you still get the same feelings and excitement.
We're going in as defending champions, but I look at it as if I just want to win the pursuit again. I'm not necessarily looking to defend the title. We have four events this time with the kilo (1km time trial), the pursuit, the time trial, and the road race - I think we can be competitive over all of them.
It's going to be a busy few weeks coming up, but an exciting few weeks!
How important is teamwork and communication between you and Lora when you’re cycling?
Communication is key when there's two very different individuals on one bike trying to go as quickly as possible. It's not as important on the track because you've got your coach on the sidelines being able to communicate with you. On the road, it's more important because it's a lot more technical with corners and hills. We've managed to find the balance perfectly with what communication we need to say. We have very few but important keywords, so as soon as I say something Lora knows exactly what I mean.
We've ridden together now for 11 years, so I think everything just comes a little bit more naturally to us now.
What is the highlight from your career so far?
It has to be winning Gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in the track pursuit. We actually went there thinking our best event was going to be the time trial, in which we actually won Bronze. In the track pursuit we knew we were capable of a medal, but I don't think either of us believed it could be Gold.
Getting to take the race and break the Paralympic record with all our family in the crowd was such a special moment.
How has St Mary’s helped prepare you for life since graduating?
I'm so grateful that I went to St Mary’s and that I did graduate and got a degree because it gives me opportunities to do other things in life when my cycling career finishes. I don’t think I will end up working in sport, so I’m glad that I have a degree that allows me to pursue other opportunities.
Ahead of the new term starting, what advice would you give to new Simmies to make the most of their time with us?
It's such a lovely environment to be in, so get stuck in and enjoy it. One thing I learned within my first term of university was to ask for help if you need it, and everyone at St Mary’s is willing to help. Just really make the most of being there.