Hello hello, I’m Marie-Lou.

I’m an ex synchronized swimming athlete for Canada. I did synchronized swimming for over 20 years and I was part of the Senior National Team for 9 years.

I am super thankful for all the opportunities I had through my career. All the travelling, the friendships, being able to push my limits physically and mentally, and having had the privilege to be captain for the 2016 Olympic team. Now looking back at my career, I can appreciate all the highs, but I can also recognize all of the lows. My sport career made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but if I could go back, I would do things differently with hindsight.

At that time, I could not differentiate myself from my athlete identity. I was Marie-Lou the athlete, I never thought about Marie-Lou the human, and what she needed and what she was going through. I pushed myself through injuries, through anxiety, through a lot, without thinking about the consequences I would face later on.

Like most athletes, if not all, I conditioned myself to believe that; athletes are the toughest, athletes can push through pain and injuries, athletes win no matter the cost.… And I did… And it was only a few years after retiring that I truly realized how these beliefs really didn’t serve me as an athlete and as a human. I found myself with a few underlying challenges; anxiety, eating disorder, the belief that I was a failure, the belief that I was never good enough…

I went on to get certified as a life coach, a nutrition coach and an NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner to help athletes release from the subconscious patterns in their minds and help them thrive as individuals. I am super excited to be part of Athlete ER and have the opportunity to help athletes better understand and take control of their mindset to perform better and have a more fulfilling career. I hope to share all of my learnings and experiences to help the current and next generations of awesome humans realize their full potential!