A key aspect to part of any student athletes life is mental health. It is the driving factor, the component that keeps us moving forward, without the mental component there simply just isn’t any desire or determination.
Rowing is a demanding sport, it requires perseverance, patience and a lot of time. For students who also attend school five days a week it can be tough to balance such a busy schedule. Every student athlete must try to find a medium at which rowing, and schoolwork can both be completed to a high standard; however, this can take it’s toll on mental health.
From my personal experience, I have always tried to find a way to fit everything in, including aiming to meet deadlines and getting to training on time after a tiring day at school. For the most part, I find this achievable providing that I stick to an organised schedule, but sometimes this is not the case and I get extremely stressed and over worked. At this point, I will usually run out of energy and my performance both academically and athletically will decrease. It becomes noticeable and my teachers and coach will start to worry and want an answer as to why I am not myself. I can’t always be honest with them because as an athlete I have a competitive nature that will not allow me to give into my exhaustion and admit to losing the battle. This has proved to be an unhealthy way of dealing with matters and will only worsen mental health.
It is important to acknowledge when you get to these stages of anxiety and stress, but its even more important to tell someone. Your performance will only decrease further because rowing requires just as much the mental aspect as the physical. Therefore, fixing the problem by reducing training for a short period of time or asking for deadlines to be extended can help with getting yourself back on track. But also knowing that your mental health comes before anything else and looking after yourself as a person should be the priority.
Observing changes in behaviours of your fellow athletes and students can also be a great help when identifying that something isn’t quite right. Knowing the typical manners displayed by your teammates is good for comparison if irregularities occur within their actions.
Although rowing and being a student can have some negative impacts on mental health if its not taken care of properly, there are also many positives. I find that if I have had a stressful day at school and there is no pressure for me to perform well at training then naturally, I will feel better after completing training. Specifically, when training at the rowing centre and being surrounded by my teammates who are all going through the same thing and therefore understand the difficulty. Training takes your mind away from situations which occur outside and allow you to direct your focus into one task. Momentarily, this can take you away from any outside anxieties and act as a relief for issues that might be bothering you. Rowing is also great for character building; it requires vast physical strength and confidence within your ability to achieve a goal. It also brings you closer to the surrounding community and provides many opportunities such as meeting new people and expands your horizons when travelling to different places to compete.
Having awareness that your mental health comes first is a strong foundation for any student athlete. You should know your boundaries and what coping mechanisms work for you, if not it is essential that you find them. Excelling well at school and rowing can feel great but you must find a balance to prevent it from becoming overwhelming. When you do get it right then it will allow you to succeed, improve and strive to become a better well-rounded student athlete and person.
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