The Lockdown Gap Year Survival Guide

With so much uncertainty around university life and travel at the moment, there’s no surprise that the number of people taking gap years or deferring university places has been dramatically rising. Some are planned, some are spontaneous; having experienced a bit of both, I’m here to give you some advice on how to make the most out of your lockdown gap year. 

I left school in July 2020 with the plan of travelling to Australia for my gap year. I had arranged with the rowing club I would be joining, the flat I would be living in, and even started looking for part-time jobs to do out there. However, as always, Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works, and by August, it was clear there was no way I could get into Australia. It was a scary time. I had no definite place at any university and had a whole year in front of me that was unplanned and in the wrong country. Luckily I had a great school coach who helped me pick a UK club to join that we both thought would be best suited to me, I moved to London and began the next step of my rowing career. Covid restrictions have made sure it’s not all been smooth sailing, but it’s been great fun for the most part. 

Keep the ball rolling 

The case for lots of gap year students is that they have been unable to train at their club and have had to spend a majority of their time at home training alone. Due to the ever-changing restrictions on sport, it’s hard to know if and when we will all be competing this year, but it’s so important to keep an end goal in sight. Whether it’s starting university as physically or mentally fit as you’ve ever been, achieving a personal best or just improving yourself as a person, it’s good to get specific. It’s easy to list off all the things we would like to achieve in 2021, but the likelihood of actually getting there is slim if you don’t know how to approach your goals. The best motivation I’ve found through lockdown has been setting weekly short term goals and ticking them off at the end of every week. Your short term goals could be anything, for example, managing two more pull-ups than last week, adding a couple of watts to your UT2 erg, getting all of your homework in on time, or even just making your bed every morning.

It’s important to remember that racing again shouldn’t be your only goal, smaller goals along the way can help make lockdown feel a lot less daunting. No one can be training 24/7, so finding something else to do other than rowing could be very beneficial for your mental health, especially if you’re no longer at school. Pick up a new hobby, try out some new skills or do an online course, these are all fantastic ways to keep yourself occupied when you’re feeling overwhelmed by lockdown. 

Set a routine and find a support base 

Setting yourself an everyday routine is, in my opinion, the best way to cope with the new lockdown lifestyle. Independent training is hard, especially without the watchful eye of a coach. It’s easy to talk yourself out of training every day, and erging alone can be a big challenge for some but the best way I’ve found to combat the hard days is to FaceTime or Zoom my team and friends to do whatever training I can with them. You’ll be more than thankful for their presence in the third quarter of a long endurance erg! Sending videos to your coach can be another great way to get through the longer sessions; lots of coaches will be more than happy to have a quick look over videos and give you some technical points to be working on – dedicate some time in your endurance ergs to focus on these. 

Don’t look at rowing as a whole picture, break it down, improve yourself bit by bit, focus on a specific aspect such as enhancing upper body strength or strengthening your core, and writing down exactly how you’re going to do it. My old coach used to say; ‘control the controllable’ and I think now more than ever it’s vital to incorporate that motto into our training. Try not to get too worried about the things out of your control and instead give attention to those you can control, like getting your post-session recovery in or improving your nutrition. Get in touch with the coaches you feel most comfortable talking to, more often than not, they love to hear from athletes and can always offer the best advice tailored to you specifically. Figure out who you can go to for support or just a general chat; if you’re worried about anything, it’s always best to speak to someone about it. 

That’s all for now. If you’re hungry for more, check out any of our other pieces from The Catch, listen to the latest podcast episode, or flick through our race previews.

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Photos by Roesie Percy

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Amarna Milne

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