Nobody said combining academics and athletics was easy.
Speed skating Olympian Christine Nesbitt shares her experiences as a competitive athlete as part of JUMP!, for female athletes from London area high schools.
For 23-year-old Christine Nesbitt, the rise to Olympic speed skating fame has been a struggle to maintain balance between her two worlds.
Nesbitt, daughter of Earth Sciences professor Wayne Nesbitt, offered the keynote speech at JUMP!, a conference held April 24 for female high school students from the London area who play sports at the school or club level. The University of Western Ontario hosted the event, organized by Women’s Athletic Alumnae of Western, in partnership with the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Two-time Olympian Catherine Bond-Mills, 10-time national champion and former record holder in the heptathalon, served as master of ceremonies.
As a Londoner, Nesbitt attended high school at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School and trained as a short-track speed skater. When her dream of attending McGill University and training in Montreal, known for its short-track program, was derailed, she enrolled in engineering at the University of Calgary and tried the long track.
Although she made the transition rather smoothly, her academics lagged behind.
“I didn’t do well in my schooling, but my skating went really well that year,” she says. “I was finding out it was too stressful for me to be in school full-time in engineering.”
She also had established a three-year plan for her sport: she wanted to qualify for the junior world championship; make the national team; and qualify for the Olympics.
Although the goals seemed achievable, Nesbitt realized she had to be realistic about her academic expectations.
Training full-time and taking a full course load weighed on her and eventually something had to give. She switched to geography and started taking fewer courses.
Those tough decisions got Nesbitt back on track for her three-year plan and she qualified for the World Cup competition, allowing her to compete for Canada.
Following suit, Nesbitt qualified to compete in three events at the 2006 Olympics held in Turin, Italy during her second year of university. She took home the silver medal in the speed skating team pursuit, with teammates Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves.
“My skating was really good, but that’s when I noticed I really needed school in my life,” she says, “Not just because education has been very important to me my whole life because of my parents, but because of the sense of balance it brought to my life.
“I loved sport and I loved training, but … I didn’t have an escape,” she adds. “I didn’t know anything outside the speed skating world.”
Nesbitt admits the competitive level at which she trains is challenging and sacrifices need to be made. In her case, some of her academic ambitions have been delayed to realize her athletic dreams.
Most recently, Nesbitt won the 1,000-metre World Cup Single Distance Speed Skating Championship in Richmond, B.C. on March 14.
Although it is taking her longer than usual to complete her degree, Nesbitt is determined to finish. “There is life after sport,” she says, adding “sports can take you a long way.”
Nesbitt urged students to continue pursuing sports, but to find a way to balance school with training and competition. She encouraged young women to look for a post-secondary school that supports its athletes.
About 85 female students from London area high schools attended the one-day event. The goal is to focus attention on women’s athletics and to inform female students about opportunities to combine sports and academics, says conference chair Helen Luckman.
“Your educational career … is really important and as young sports women, there is an opportunity to marry your sport with post-secondary education,” she says.