Pramath Doddaballapur: Varsity-Level Swimmer
-Junior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California
-Member of Monte Vista’s Varsity Boys Swim Team
-Competitive Swimmer for Sunnyvale Swim Club
How do you manage swimming, school, friends, family, etc.?
“I think it’s just all about planning. If you plan before your day and plan for it well, you will be able to fit time in wherever you want. You also want to take things one step at a time. You don't want to think about everything together because if you do, you can feel overwhelmed really easily.”
How do you deal with burnout?
“Burnout is a real problem for me, especially with swimming. What I do is I usually just communicate with my coach. At practices, I might take it a little bit easier by working on some small part of the practice or I might even tell my coach that I don’t want to attend swim practice that day. It’s just about taking the appropriate rest whenever you feel like you need it.”
How do you deal with stress on competition day/games/tournaments?
“I feel like for stress, it’s important to use the resources that you have. For example, my coach is really good at helping me manage my stress - he really breaks down my races which helps me simplify things. I feel like the support from my mom and dad has really helped me reduce the stress I face when swimming competitively.”
Is there any parental pressure? How do you deal with it?
“There isn’t really much parental pressure. It’s really just pressure I put on myself to be better
Is mental health talked about on your team? Would you like to see it talked about?
It isn’t really talked about much and yes, I would like to see a larger emphasis on mental health on my team because it has a large impact on sports.”
What other external pressures affect swimming? (peer pressure, social media)
“Peer pressure is a major problem. There’s always people talking about how fast they’ve gotten, what championship meets they’re going to, and how it’s going to help them - especially for their college applications. In this area, everything is done for college applications and so if you do really well in swimming, there’s always going to be pressure. There’s always that pressure that you will get into a better college if you swim better. Peer pressure is a significant pressure that I face.”
Has moving into higher-intensity and more competitive swimming taken a toll on your mental health? How is it different from 6-7 years ago?
“As you grow older, there’s a lot more emphasis and seriousness in your sport because it is a crucial moment right now - you have to choose whether you’ll swim in college or not. That has a major impact on your life. 6 or 7 years ago I was swimming under a lot less pressure. It was not recreational but there was a lot less pressure. There wasn’t goal setting or any stress to achieve certain times for races before certain moments in the year. There’s a lot more stress to meet goals nowadays. So yes, competitive swimming has taken a toll on my mental health over the years.”
Are you comfortable talking to teammates about mental health and pressure? What types of teammates help with your mental health/wellness?
“There are plenty of teammates that help with that but I feel like the toxicity in the swimming environment is a lot more than what it’s supposed to be. It has increased over the years and even if you are on the same team, there is too much competition that isn’t healthy. People are not really supportive and encouraging - a lot of people just look out for themselves. Even when people are on the same team, they have this selfish mentality and while there are people that are supportive, the opposite is true as well and it has a large impact on swimmers.”
