Rolfe first started whitewater paddling in 1991 and was for several years a white water rafting guide. Rolfe was coached by Andrea Wood and based out of the Gold Coast Canoe Club. He returned to canoeing in 2009 as a para-canoeist with the aim of competing the 2016 Rio Games where para-canoeing was making its debut. In the lead up to this event, Rolfe was one of the sport's greatest advocates and even appeared in an International Canoe Federation video to promote the sport. In 2010, Rolfe stated that "I had been water rafting and white water kayaking before my accident but because kayaking wasn't anywhere near Paralympic status then, I took up swimming which was the only other water sport in the programme". Rolfe was Australia's first paracanoe representative at world championships level when he competed in the Men's LTA K1 at the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznań, Poland. He also competed at the 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships