Rowing the road back from cancer

That was the reality for Norwegian Caja Demmink nearly eight years ago. This year she was back racing, including the World Rowing Masters Regatta in Hazewinkel, Belgium. For Demmink, there is no question about it, “I just don’t want to waste any time,” she says.

When Demmink was first diagnosed with cancer, she had to undergo many rounds of intense chemotherapy treatment. Anyone familiar with cancer knows how violent these treatments can be, but Demmink had several strategies for making it through.

“Rowing kept me motivated. I saw it as a kind of therapy. In rowing you focus on the goal, even if you are in pain, you push yourself through.” The lessons learned from years of rowing at the national level in Norway had taught Demmink well.

She used rowing as a mental escape. When she didn’t feel well, Demmink went to the water in her mind, tried to think of the perfect stroke, the feeling of the boat running underneath her and how you push your blade through the water. As her situation worsened, she started to make small goals. “I made a goal for every day. For example, today, I managed to get out of bed on my own. It was these small goals that kept me independent and seeing small successes.”

Then, at the worse moment of it all, Demmink was declared clinically dead for four minutes. “My heart stopped. But I came out alive and stronger than before.” Her road to recovery was not easy, but every step of the way Demmink thought about how she could once again be on the water. The first sessions back were short and far from easy. But little by little Demmink got back in the boat, determined to make it to a World Rowing masters regatta.

“I was training, almost too much!” Demmink laughs. “My coach told me, ‘you’re not super woman, you’re not Olaf Tufte!’” Tufte, the Norwegian single sculler who won the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2004, has come back to qualify for his sixth consecutive Olympics at age 39, is a huge inspiration for Demmink. “He just keeps going,” she says.

Despite all of her challenges, Demmink made it to a World Rowing Masters Regatta to compete in the women’s single sculls. She has also shifted her career. During her treatment, Demmink studied to become a life coach. “I thought a lot about the meaning of life and what my purpose in life is. I found out that I want to motivate people and make them find a way to be happy with themselves or to find their one purpose in life.”

Demmink has also started a campaign against cancer called ‘ro mot kreft’ which means ‘row against cancer’ in Norwegian. She hopes to help cancer survivors use rowing to recover from their treatments. Her network at the World Rowing Masters Regatta means that she can now take this campaign international. An inspiration to all, Demmink says, “Nothing is impossible, you just have to find a way to achieve it.”