This is the story of Rebecca Rivers...

Story of Rebecca Rivers

This is the story of one Rebecca Rivers. Rivers is a Junior Elite female (race age 17) on T3, a team based in Austin. Rivers will be starting her freshman year of college this fall at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. She will be on the new women’s triathlon team, as well as the swim team at Drury. She will be the first multisport athlete at Drury.

“I’ve never gone to a specialist or talked to anyone about anxiety,” Rivers said. “It’s only the night before and the morning of the races.”

Rivers has faced problems with anxiety, causing her to break down during races and experience panic attacks, unable to calm herself.

“Physically I know I’m ready for this stuff,” Rivers said. “But mentally I freak myself out. I talk myself out of anything that I can do well.”

Rivers faces the same problem that several other athletes face: the anxiety and pressure put on them during the race portion of the sport.

“One of the reasons I’m such a social person is that people at races calm me down,” Rivers said. “But my coach doesn’t let me talk to people, says it’ll keep me unfocused.”

Something that stands out in the triathlon community is our closeness. With a small community, everyone knows just about everyone. Friendships are born within the confines of the race course.

“The training has helped me,” Rivers said. “It gives me something that keeps my mind off things, so if I’m swimming, or cycling, or running, I’m focused on that. I’m focused on doing the best I can.”

The pressure from the sport doesn’t only come from ourselves, but from those who are closest to us; The ones we might not ever expect.

“I’m hoping whenever I go to college, it’ll change,” Rivers said. “One of the big factors of my anxiety is my parents, and maybe without my parents will change that. I’ll be doing things for myself, and not for them.”

Though Rivers hasn’t faced any depression, she has seen it throughout the community and in her friends.

“I have friends that suffer from it more than I do,” Rivers said. “I try to do my part to talk to them and help them, but it’s hard.”

Rivers has experienced and seen first hand what anxiety and depression can do, but still others ignore the truth of what is going on.

“People kind of push it to the side,” Rivers said. “It’s pushed to the side because people think depression or anxiety is a made-up thing and you just do it to get attention.”

Change needs to happen, and it is, through the stories people read and the courage in people to volunteer what’s closest to them.

“It’s really really real,” Rivers said. “And some people don’t understand that. It’s hard whenever there’s these people that you want to talk to and they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re just making a big deal out of it’ and you just don’t know who exactly you can talk to.”

The mentality of the athlete is never known to the viewer. Whether they finish on the podium, or get lapped out, athletes’ minds are always skewed.

“Because what we do is so demanding, people think if you’re doing this sport then you’re mentally stable and you have everything together,” Rivers said. “And if you’re not mentally stable, people think you shouldn’t be doing this. People don’t give it the full thought that it needs. A lot of people suffer from this and a lot of people don’t talk about it.”

The first step in getting help in the community is opening up to those around us and being there for the ones who need help.

“People need to be more open and more supportive to all the athletes in this community,” Rivers said. “If someone comes to you about something, like telling you about their anxiety or depression, everyone should be open and listen to them and try to help because a lot of the time, talking to someone is the best way to help.”

The misunderstanding of an athlete, is a factor in why this plight of mental issues is so rampant in Youth and Junior Elites. But how can people understand? Noone can make someone believe one thing or another, so telling adults and other individuals about mental illnesses can backfire drastically. If someone refuses to understand, tell them a story. A story of anxiety and depression. A story of yourself and everything you’ve been through. Sometimes the only way one will believe is by showing them.

Yours truly,