Balancing sport and study

Maintaining balance between academic and personal goals can be challenging at the best of times, let alone if you are an elite athlete. The ANU Sport and Recreation Association Scholarship provides financial assistance to emerging athletes and talented sportspeople, supporting them to achieve both their academic and athletic goals.

Caleb Antil, 2021 Scholarship recipient and Olympic bronze medallist rower, knows that maintaining the delicate balance between elite sport performance and academic studies is an investment in his future. Caleb is currently studying a double degree in commerce and science at ANU, majoring in management and psychology; and minoring in business and economics essentials, and social psychology.

"University is essential for your future. It is important for me to be working towards a career after sport and exploring my abilities in other areas outside of the boat," says Caleb. "This scholarship allowed me to continue balancing my studies whilst pursuing Olympic qualification.

"Juggling both sport and study requires athletes to use their time effectively and, most importantly, they require support.

"The support I have received in the form of the Scholarship is a key component of the broad support network that has allowed me to compete at an Olympic level, while also graduating with two Bachelor degrees from Australia's most prestigious university."

Caleb hopes to use his broad range of knowledge developed at ANU to pursue a career in consulting on leadership, team dynamics and high performance.

"My time at ANU has set me up for a career outside of sport," says Caleb. "It has given me core knowledge and critical thinking skills that are applicable to many aspects of my life."