Rowing: The Effect on Mental Health- Keva Bush, Surbiton High School

In the sports world, mental health is one of those important issues talked about not nearly enough at club level. Many athletes are afraid to talk about their mental health as they believe it makes them look like they want attention from their coaches, or like they are just talking about themselves. They might also fear it makes them seem selfish, or they’re afraid they’ll be treated differently/ be perceived as weak. This needs to change. A rowers mental health and wellbeing is incredibly important to keep them healthy, fit and enjoying their sport. If a rower enjoys their chosen sport, it means that their less likely to experience burn out, and far more likely to pursue their career on to a professional level. There is also a positive correlation between a happy athlete and an athlete who wins. In a study conducted in 2013, sports psychologist Dr Mark Gervais writes “The big idea is that a happy athlete is an athlete who performs better”

Every single study you would have read will tell you that if you exercise regularly it will produce hormones that make you feel much more positive and happier in your day to day life. The NHS has suggested to people that they should engage in 150 minutes of steady exercise a week (Roughly 20 mins a day) so shouldn’t rowing improve mental health? Yes and no. The actual partaking of the sport is undeniably a positive addition to anyones day. I mean, the endorphin rush and the feeling of pride after a particularly hard piece? Irreplaceable. It’s the stress in race seasons or the consistent pressure to be almost robotic in your precision that is taking the toll. When the A-squad are in a constant grapple to secure their positions and the E-squad lost motivations for the sport 7 defeats ago, there is genuinely no way to escape it.

It’s not just the rowers being negatively affected either. During important races, a Coxswain is required to ‘weigh in’, an embarrassing process in which you have to step on to the scales in the dingy admin room and are then told if you’re too heavy or too light to race. I’ll repeat that slower. A public space where teenage coxes are required to step on a scale and are then given a wristband saying you are an appropriate weight to race. It’s important to note that this is done with safeguarding in mind, its purpose is to stop the clubs starving their coxes to secure an advantage, the the callous way it is done can be detrimental to the young athletes health. A race situation can also be incredibly anxiety-inducing for a cox. They are responsible for the organisation of the team, making sure they’re warmed up and they’re wearing appropriate clothing for the boat. I promise by the end of it you’ll be wondering why you can’t use it as work experience for a babysitting job!

Coaches: I implore that you talk about these issues with your squad (regardless of whether you re  coaching men or women) because this is real. Chances are likely that there are rowers and coxes in your boats right now who are struggling with an eating disorder, or are toeing that slippery slope between trying to be healthy and experiencing disordered eating (Chances are they don’t even realise there doing it).If you’re not comfortable doing this yourself, reach out to a nutritionist at a local hospital or another coach within your schools athletic department (Unfortunately, eating disorders in sports are more common than you might expect) and have them come talk to the team. Trust me, it will be worth the lost 45 mins of practice.

Rowers: If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes in a boat with me, you would have heard me say this a thousand times, but part of being a good teammate is looking out for each other. If you think that one of your teammates might be dealing with something like this, don’t jump the gun and accuse them (because let’s be real, historically that hasn’t been a successful approach) Instead, just let them know that if they need someone to talk to you’re there if they need anything. More often than not that’s all it takes, just knowing that someone is willing to listen without being judgmental.