Imagine being at a dizzying height in a foreign country, climbing with your mere hands and feet up a wall, with your fingers getting sweaty. This is the experience that junior Danielle Rogan encountered when she entered the Adult World Championships for rock climbing in France as one of the youngest girls there.
“The competition in France was pretty scary,” Rogan said.
Rogan started rock climbing at one of those kiddy walls you see at say, Dick’s Sporting Goods when a guy there told her to check out climbing teams. Since starting in seventh grade Rogan has advanced her rock climbing skills and is looking towards a rock climbing future.
“Climbing is possibly going to be part of the Olympics in 2020, and I’ve always wanted to be in the Olympics,” Rogan said.
Few teens spend time dreaming of participating in the upcoming Olympics but Rogan humbly insists she is just like any other 16 year old girl. Climbing may be a part of Rogan’s life but also has many other unique interests involving school, family and friends.
“Outside of climbing, I’m just a normal high schooler. I hang out with friends, play violin, and try to keep up in school,” Rogan said.
Keeping up can be hard when she is traveling the world rock climbing. After being in France for a whole week, missing school, Rogan has to prioritize. And sometimes, rock climbing comes first.
“Rock climbing takes up a lot of time, like any sport. It’s hard, sometimes, to manage balancing everything out.” Rogan said,” You have to plan a lot of things in advance to accommodate competitions and traveling. So sometimes, I have to pick climbing over something else I like doing. For example, next week I’m missing the homecoming dance because I’ll be in Atlanta, Georgia for the only world cup competition taking place in the States.”
Other than social events with friends Rogan also says its hard to keep up on homework. Missing a whole week of rigorous classes can really add up on homework.
“It was hard coming back to school and having to deal with the major time change and all the extra homework that I missed,” Rogan said.
Of course, there are some great perks of the traveling that comes along with rock climbing. While in France Rogan got to sightsee at arguably some to the most amazing places in the world. From museums, to landmarks, to simply watching competitors climb in competition, Rogan got an eyeful.
“I did a lot of sightseeing, like the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame, to name a few. A lot of the time, I was at the competition cheering on the rest of the US Team, or just watching other climbers,” Rogan said.
Like any athlete Rogan aspires to accomplish things of others. Her idols fuel her inspiration and goals.
“There are many climbers that I admire, like an American climber named Sasha DiGiulian, who is 19, and has been professionally climbing longer than I’ve even been climbing competitively. I also admire a Russian climber named Yuliya Levochkina, who currently holds the Woman’s World Speed record of 8.37 seconds on the 15 meter wall,” Rogan said.
Danielle Rogan is definitely an athlete and student to watch, with much more in store for the future.
