NO IMPORT Suzannah MICHELL Interview

Suzannah Michell began rowing through the high school rowing system in Adelaide, Australia to become a State Champion and make the state team in the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls. Now vice-captain of her team at the University of South Australia, Michell says that her course in Physiotherapy perfectly complements her passion for rowing.

 

“Having an in-depth knowledge of what is occurring in your body every time you train is not only interesting, but a huge advantage in sport as well. For me, rowing lightweight has been a challenge, but my understanding of nutrition and physiology has helped greatly. Furthermore my rowing lets me engage with the anatomy and exercise physiology subjects in a way that most of my classmates cannot; I am able to test theories and concepts on myself every day in training sessions.”

 

World Rowing: How do you think rowing at university has impacted your overall experience? 

Suzannah Michell: The simple fact for me is that I couldn’t be at university without rowing. For the first six months of my degree I had no sporting commitments whatsoever and I found myself totally disengaged and unhappy with where I was headed. Rowing had a huge overall effect on my well-being. I can say with confidence that I am much healthier and well-balanced in every aspect of my life since choosing to commit to rowing.

 

WR: Describe the busiest day you have had at university.

SM: Every Tuesday I am up at 4:40am and I’m training until 7:15am. Then I drive in peak-hour traffic to get home at 8am, have a quick shower and pack all my food for the day, then ride to uni on my bike. I then have to sit through a three-hour practical class followed by a two-hour tutorial and a one- hour lecture with no breaks in between. That takes me to 3pm at which time I usually have to start an essay due that week, or finish off an assignment. Then I ride my bike to the rowing club gym where I do 70 minutes of cardio. Finally, I ride home, have dinner and promptly go to sleep. 

 

WR: What reaction do you get from non-rowing classmates when they find out you row? 

SM: Luckily in my course there are a lot of competitive athletes, however the early starts were a shock to some! I find that my closest friends at university are really interested in the formatting and complexities involved in rowing- especially in the concept of lightweight rowing, probably because of their sports science background. I do get a bit of negativity every now and then though. Some people don’t understand why I would commit myself so heavily to a sport that sometimes encroaches on my university work. 

 

WR: What is your favourite boat to race?

SM: In general, I love a 4x- or 2x- race. I probably like them because they are lightweight women events and Amber Halliday, my coach last season, loved them too. 

 

WR: What is your best training memory?

SM: If I had to narrow it down I would choose a training session we did at the end of a winter rowing camp this year. It was a very challenging session, hill sprints, run, wall-sits, and a lot of us almost didn’t finish it. But there was a great feeling amongst everyone, everyone was cheering each other on and pushing everyone to do better. I think we all felt pretty great to finish it too! 

 

WR: How do you balance rowing and studying? 

SM: I’m sure any university rower would say that it is definitely no easy feat to juggle such a demanding sport with a university degree! I feel that they balance themselves out quite well though because there is so much overlap with the sports science side of things. Time management and preparation are very important as well to avoid major clashes with exams and racing periods. 

 

WR: What inspired you to start rowing?

SM: Both my sisters were coxswains through school and it seemed like a really good way to meet people before I started a new high school. I also had some great coaches who inspired me to keep going. 

 

WR: Do you have a favourite workout? 

SM: My favourite is LABA (Legs-Arms-Back-Abs), which is a high-intensity weights circuit split up with long wall-sits (up to 10 mins) in between each repetition.