An Olympian Approach to University Life

What does it take to handle a full-time job while being a full-time university student? If you ask Cindy Cheung Sum Yuet, she will tell you that discipline is key. She should know – the full-time swimmer who was on Team Hong Kong at the 2024 Paris Olympics is also currently a full-time Year 1 student in the Faculty of Social Sciences majoring in Psychology and Sociology, admitted to HKU via the Top Athletes Direct Admission Scheme.

A typical day in Cindy’s life starts early: she’s up at 5 am and trains in the pool for 1.5 hours. This is followed by breakfast and a short nap until it’s time to head to HKU for lectures and tutorials. After finishing classes, she heads back to the Hong Kong Sports Institute for her 2.5-hour afternoon swim session. Dinnertime is when she finally gets to relax a bit, but rarely does she have time to go out with friends.

Why would she put herself through this? Cindy says it’s because she’s always been drawn to swimming, a lifelong passion that started when she was very young. “I would beg my parents to take me to swimming pools just because I enjoyed the feeling of being in the water,” she recalls. Even after trying her hand in a range of other activities, she always returned to swimming. It was the only activity that truly held her interest, and that she felt she showed genuine talent in.

For most athletes, taking part in the Olympic Games is of course the ultimate dream – and for Cindy, her dream came true at the age of 17. “It was a great honour to represent team Hong Kong in the Paris Olympics,” she says, adding, “I am incredibly grateful to be able to make my family and coaches proud by qualifying for the games. Although my performance was not as good as I had hoped, participating in the games was nonetheless the most unforgettable experience in my swimming career so far.” For her, having the opportunity to watch the world’s most talented swimmers compete against one another, observing how they prepare themselves for races both physically and mentally, and meeting other athletes in the village were all valuable learning experiences to treasure for a lifetime.

Being part of a community and having peers you could look up to was important as well. Cindy regards her teammate Siobhán Haughey as not just a role model for swimming, but for life in general, noting, “I was lucky enough to have gotten closer to her when we participated in overseas swim meets together, especially after the Paris Olympics. Her determination in her swimming career and her positive attitude towards life is truly inspirational.”

With her interest in mental discipline and well-being, it is understandable that she has chosen to study psychology at HKU. “I have always been fascinated by the human mind and how much our psychological well-being affects us in our daily lives, especially athletes who are constantly put under high levels of stress. As an athlete myself, I believe understanding more about psychological health will benefit my swimming career as well. I would also like to pursue a career in the psychological field in the long term,’ she says. “With its prestige and excellent learning facilities, I was naturally very drawn to HKU and wanted to study psychology here. I intend to communicate a lot with the professors who are experts in subjects I want to learn more about.”

In addition to courses in psychology, she was also drawn to the wide variety of subjects offered in the Common Core courses: “I came across topics such as “Fashion, Politics, and the Global City” and “Emotions, Cognition and Brain” that sound really interesting. I am also looking forward to meeting new people on campus, and since there are so many students and professors from different cultural backgrounds, there’s a lot I can learn from them.”

Balancing studies with training and other commitments is no easy feat, but Cindy has a strategy to balance them: “When I’m swimming, I do not spare a single thought on my studies and other matters in life, and vice versa for when I’m studying. Thinking of balancing life that way has made it a lot less hectic, and allows me to enjoy all aspects of my life more thoroughly.”

“I hope everyone can realise that there are difficult things in life that we must go through to be successful. When I am having a hard time in practice, I remind myself that this is something I must do for a brighter future. No matter how tough my training is, each session will end eventually, so why not give it my best shot instead of wasting time complaining about how hard it is? Time is precious and every minute I spend hard at work is a minute well spent.”

For now, her own priority is to get used to life as a university student-athlete as soon as possible, and perform well in both fields. She prefers not to give too much thought to the future, but her upcoming goal would be to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Ultimately, she hopes to pursue a career in the mental health field. “I’ve seen how important mental health is to the average person, and I would like to be able to help people who are in a dark place mentally find their way through,” she says.

Whether in the pool or in life, her definition of success isn’t about fame or fortune, but instead finding genuine contentment with her career and life: “I hope I can achieve this by enjoying each day of my life, and even when I face hardships, I hope I can learn to see those times in a positive light and think of them as a great learning opportunity.”