Rika is an incredible athlete born and raised in South Africa. She grew up running hurdles, barefoot, before moving to Kansas to run hurdles in college.

Her dream as a child was to run hurdles in the olympics for her country.

After several back to back injuries, likely resulting from having to run in shoes on a track (vs barefoot on grass in South Africa), she made the transition to rowing. The story of how that transition occurred is incredible.

Rika was able to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in rowing after discovering her incredible abilities and work ethic paid off at the highest level in that sport.