The challenges of being an elite athlete
Written for BREWYD
Being a professional athlete is a dream come true, it really is. As I grow older I appreciate more and more the life I live; being able to train, race and travel the world as part of my job. I spend my mornings in the pool and my afternoons in the ocean – like I said, a dream come true.
From the outside looking in, being an athlete can look exciting, glamourous and full of cool opportunities. It sure has some wonderful highs, but just and often some challenging lows. And the reality of being an athlete in a low funded or female sport can be tough.
Across my career there have been a number of challenges I’ve faced, including:
Time management:
I train up to 16 times per week, 6 days per week waking up at 4:30 each day. This makes it difficult to fit in work, study and social not feel tired all the time - it’s a fine line juggling everything.
Often, I’m making daily choices between training, recovering or working more to make money. There is one positive, all this juggling helps us athletes grow as people; in order to thrive we have to figure out a way to balance everything.
Support:
Without direct access to physio, massage, dietitians and others through our chosen sport, athletes need to find this support ourselves – then see providers in our own time and fund the services ourselves.
Additionally, in the early stages if we want to learn more about high performance as individuals and more broadly in our sport, we need to seek this knowledge and information ourselves.
Today, I am really lucky to have a sponsorship with Gold Coast Super Clinic Physio in this area, but early in my career it was certainly difficult.
Financial:
Without lucrative contracts, athletes are often just trying to get by to fund their training, craft, equipment, travel and generally living away from home.
Athletes are regularly faced with the choice of continuing to pursue their sporting dreams or focusing on the alternative of working in a ‘typical’ job. Personally, I find it hard to excel in both work and sport simultaneously.
Another aspect is prize money – it’s awesome when you win! But when you are not winning there is a big disparity from the top down, this makes things difficult to plan for.
Equality:
When I first started racing professionally, the male athletes were racing longer distances, winning more prize money, had better sponsorships and more opportunities. This has slowly changed which is something I am proud of, but it wasn’t always this way.
I have been extremely grateful for any support I have received over the years through financial sponsorship, product sponsorship, mentoring and advice.
And a small amount of support can make a huge difference, it certainly does for me. That’s why I’m excited to be part of the BREWYD team.
They’re changing the way up and coming elite athletes access the support they need to reach the pinnacle of their sport. BREWYD believes that your success as an athlete shouldn’t rely on the bank of mum and dad (BOMAD), your participation in a well funded sport or good luck and good timing.
They’re disrupting the funding and sponsorship model for elite athletes by working with leading organisations and coaching them on the high performance methodologies we know so well in sport.
They then take a portion of the revenue generated from those organisations and invest in BREWYD’s High Performance Athletes (HPAs), providing support and guidance leading into elite competition, during and after life as a professional athlete.
For an athlete, knowing your support network will be there when you’re sick or injured, winning or facing challenging times means you can focus on the job at hand – your craft. And not on how you’re going to get to work to be able to pay for the massage your muscles really need.
Join me and my BREWYD colleagues on July 26 the Hilton Hotel Sydney to hear how we’re taking the science of high performance in sport to the boardroom - so we can fund more of Australia’s future champions.
Book your team tickets here: BREWYD - Break Records Even When You’re Down
I would like to thank my current sponsors for all their support it helping me chase my dreams:
Shaw and Partners Financial Services, Race One Surf Craft, BMD Northcliffe SLSC, Simon George and Sons, Gold Coast Super Clinic Physio, Jolyn Swimwear, Blackroll, Nike and Momentum