Student athletes: balancing term papers and Olympia“We Aim for Medals”

16 July 2024, by Anna Priebe

Photo: Private

At the OLympics, Time Ole Naske (second from left) is in the stroke seat position.

From 26 July to 11 August, the Olympic Games 2024 will take place in Paris, France. The German Olympic team also includes University of Hamburg students who are set to race for medals. Altogether 30 elite athletes are enrolled at the University. Three of them talk about juggling studies, training, and competitions. This time, rower Tim Ole Naske.

Age: 28 years
Sports type: rowing (quad scull)
Degree program: law
Previous successes, among others: silver at the European Rowing Championships 2023; European champion, double sculls, 2019; World U23 Championship, single sculls, 2016

I have always combined high-performance sport with studying. When I started studying in 2017 I went up to the national rowing team at the same time. A fellow rower, who had already passed the Staatsexamen (state examination), strongly discouraged me from studying law. As of today, I must admit he was right. The program is very time-consuming and comes with academic stress, particularly, the state examination. I thus focus strongly on achieving a balance and recovery, even if taking fewer courses delays graduation.

Fortunately, the University and the Faculty have been incredibly suppportive. They offered online written exams even before the coronavirus pandemic. Also, my degree program has hardly any attendance requirements, which is great, for I spent most of my time at the rowing center in Ratzeburg, Schleswig-Holstein, studying remotely. Training is intense, comprised of 3 daily training units, which would hardly be possible with a rigid university schedule.

So, I’m studying full time, but do not take all of the available courses. I don’t really miss student life, because sport provides me with great things and I get around a lot. Of course, some of my classmates are further along in their studies, but I do not regret my decision for sport. Nonetheless, it’s cool to connect with other students. Often, they are impressed by what I do besides studying and I admire them for successfully completing their studies within the regular period of time.

This semester, my focus is wholly on Paris.

After the Olympic games, I plan to take a 1-year break from sport to fully concentrate on my state exam. This semester, however, my focus is wholly on Paris. My boat class, quad scull, has qualified and I will definitely go if I do not get injured before. I competed in the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, Japan, when audiences were excluded due to the pandemic. So, technically, these are my first real games. I am very much looking forward to it, as these competitions have a unique driving force.

Before Olympia, you usually look back at the season to make a realistic guess about placements. However, our stroke got sick, dropped out for 2 months at the beginning of the season, and returned just 2 weeks ago. The race in Poland in mid-June was thus our first joint competition in a long time—our final test bed so to speak. We now know, where we stand. For me, it’s clear that we aim for medals.

Actually, to me, the moment right before the start of a race feels pretty much like the moment before I get to see the questions during an exam—the same excitement. As soon as I feel confident about a race or about solving the task at hand, I can feel a smile arise from within. I hope it will be like that at the Olympics and during my final exams as well.