Olympian and psychologist Tere Zacher spoke about the importance of approaching injury rehabilitation with a resilient mindset during Sports Medicine Club’s inaugural meeting on Oct. 24.
Zacher shared her own experiences with sports injuries during her transition from college volleyball to professional swimming and long-distance running. Despite being told that she was too old to start swimming competitively at age 24, Zacher went on to place first in 50m freestyle in the 1998 FINA Masters World Championships. She went on to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, representing Mexico in running at age 44.
“Whatever you set your mind into, you can achieve, regardless of where you come from, regardless of your age,” Zacher said. “Do not let other people’s fears get in the way of what you can and cannot do. If someone does that, push them away. You’re the only one that can set your own limits.”
When Zacher switched to running, she faced repeated injuries, which worsened when she resumed training before her injuries healed completely. She urged students to take care of their bodies and focus on their mindset regarding injuries and recovery, concentrating on improvement and gradual goal-setting.
“Progress is measured in centimeters,” Zacher said. “Instead of thinking how I couldn’t run, I was like ‘I couldn’t even put weight on it a week ago. Now I can walk.’ Instead of thinking about what you cannot do, focus on how you progress instead of comparing yourself to before the injury or to your teammates.”
Sports medicine club member and volleyball player Sophie Wu (9) shared how Zacher’s experiences with overexertion resonated with her own athletic training.
“I’ve gotten minor injuries where it’s been recommended that I take a week off,” Sophie said. “But I remember always thinking that I need to keep practicing. It’s really eye-opening hearing the perspective of someone who kept reinjuring and having to eventually sit out a whole year, and it really clicked in my brain that I should take more care of my body.”
Sports medicine club was founded this year to spotlight human anatomy, physiology and performance in the realm of sports. The club plans to host educational and interactive activities through a mix of lectures, speaker events and demonstrations.
Officer Jason Li (12) described the relevance of the club to all members of the community and not just athletes.
“You don’t even need to be in a sport to get a sports injury as long as you’re physically active,” Jason said. “I hope that [our members] will feel inspired to, if they’re not training already, to start training, and if they are training, to start coding it in certain ways, or doing preventative exercises or rehab or recovery.”