A Royal Navy Writer turned Physical Training Instructor and Great British Boxing Champion, AB Sophie Colebourn has achieved huge success in just five years in the Royal Navy.
Sophie joined the Royal Navy five years ago, at the age of eighteen, to pursue a career that allowed her to develop her skills professionally, without sacrificing her boxing prowess.
Boxing has been Sophie’s passion since the age of eleven, training and competing in civilian clubs in her hometown in Liverpool. Shortly after joining the Navy as a Writer, Sophie became a member of the Royal Navy’s Boxing Association and started the sometimes-complex journey of balancing a successful professional career alongside a sporting one.
Through dedication and determination, Sophie has forged success in both areas to become a valued athlete in the Royal Navy Boxing team while creating her own diverse journey in the Royal Navy.
Sophie said, “The Royal Navy has opened so many doors for me over the last five years in my career and in sport. I have travelled to some incredible places and been up and down the country training and competing in boxing. It has provided a lot of opportunities for me that I would not have had on the outside and has got me to where I am today.”
In April this year, Sophie moved on from her role as a Writer and started on the Royal Navy’s Physical Training Instructor course, in the same month as being crowned the Great British National Amateur Boxing Champion. Sophie beat the Great British number one to win and joined a small but illustrious list of Royal Navy and Royal Marine individuals who have achieved this title.
Winning the Amateur Championships saw Sophie qualify to represent England in the Tri-Nations Championships in June and enter selection for Great British team assessment. Fighting in the under 66kg category, Sophie beat her opponent to be crowned Tri-Nations Champion and make her mark in elite-level boxing representing the Royal Navy.
Sophie said, “To represent the Royal Navy when I am competing is massive for me. To ‘put the best on your chest’ is one of the proudest things that you can do. It is something that I have always wanted to achieve and I can proudly say that I have.”
Sophie’s skills as a professional athlete are transferrable force wide in the Royal Navy, demanding resilience, teamwork, determination, and commitment, but invaluable in her career as a Physical Training Instructor.
The Physical Training course is an intense course that sees Royal Navy personnel train to not only be the best physical versions of themselves, but to be able to support the whole force in achieving this standard to ensure they are fit for service.
Sophie said, “Being a Royal Navy Boxer works perfectly alongside my career and I am incredibly lucky to be a part of the team. I can focus on being the best in my career for half of the year and then I am drafted out to be a full-time boxer for the other half.
“In the future I would love to become a part of the Royal Navy Boxing Coaching team. I would love to be able to transfer all the interchangeable skills I have learned and continue to learn, to all those in the Royal Navy, especially the younger people starting out in their Navy careers.”
Sophie is putting all her focus into becoming a Physical Trainer in the Royal Navy over the next few months and will prepare to slip back into her elite boxing career at the end of the year.
