Mady Shivgulam is no stranger to chasing time. Her first year on Dal鈥檚 varsity swim team, Shivgulam missed the national cut by a hair. Fractions of a second determined her next four years of training in the pool. Overtaking an instant became her personal summit.
Since retiring from varsity, Shivgulam has gained a new perspective on wins and losses. Now in her second year in a Master of Science in Kinesiology, she looks forward to applying her experience to all aspects of her life 鈥� from coaching swimmers to mentoring young women in science.
This is Shivgulam鈥檚 fifth-straight-year as an Academic All-Canadian at Dal, an award honouring student-athletes who achieve an 80 per cent average or above while playing varsity sports. Her career also includes four straight Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships with the Tigers.
Shivgulam describes the life of a student-athlete as 鈥渁n emotional journey,鈥� but one she felt naturally suited for.
鈥淚 wasn't the fastest in the pool,鈥� said Shivgulam, 鈥渟o, finding my successes in other things and being able to be resilient and have learning experiences while growing up in that environment was a huge win for me. Some people don't thrive in that environment. I did.鈥�
Mady Shivgulam, centre in red dress, with fellow Tigers at the Academic All-Canadian celebration.
A formative experience
Balancing the hard-won hyphen between student and athlete is not always 鈥減eaches and cream,鈥� said Shivgulam.
鈥淭here are many tears, there are many 鈥業 can鈥檛 do this, I don鈥檛 have time for this' moments. It鈥檚 very stressful [because] there鈥檚 a lot of pressure on all aspects of your life. But the saving grace is that you鈥檙e going through it with all of your teammates at the same time.鈥�
This journey 鈥� from 5:30 a.m. mornings, to full-time studies, to evening practices and meals on the road 鈥� is one Shivgulam cherishes as formative and irreplicable.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot but it鈥檚 all I really knew, so it was an easy transition鈥� to Dal, said Shivgulam. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I did in high school. Then university. That was my life. And I loved it.鈥�
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Thirteen years since stepping on deck for the first time, Shivgulam, 23, is embracing a slower pace.
鈥淲hen I was in it, every single success and every single challenge, I鈥檒l call it, was end-all be-all,鈥� said Shivgulam. 鈥淎nd I really struggled with that, especially in the pool. But now that I am out of it, everything is more relaxed. Things are going to ebb and flow. And that鈥檚 the natural progression of things. And if things don鈥檛 work out, 鈥業t鈥檚 okay, we鈥檒l get them next time.鈥欌��
Shivgulam understands the need to succeed is often felt the hardest from yourself. Now, as a swim coach with the Tigers, Shivgulam wants to share this newfound pace with other swimmers.
鈥淚 want to take them and tell them, 鈥業t鈥檚 gonna be okay,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 wish I could have told myself that.鈥�
Her parents never pressured her, but instead encouraged her to do what she liked. "But I've always just really been driven academically and very driven in the pool,鈥� said Shivgulam.
Redefining success and failure
Since leaving the swim team, Shivgulam has reflected on some of these impulses she took for granted.
鈥淓motional maturity and emotional intelligence are coming as I age, and I'm able to have more perspective on things, like, it's not the end of the world if everything doesn't go the way I plan,鈥� said Shivgulam. "Redefining what failure is to myself is also important. And I think everyone should have a conversation with themselves about what is success?鈥�
Last fall, as a master鈥檚 student, Shivgulam attended the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) Conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick. There, she had a revelation during a symposium on imposter syndrome and the relationship of similarities between high-performance sport and academia.
鈥淎cademia is filled with rejection and no's, like wanting to get published and applying for grants,鈥� said Shivgulam. 鈥淭hings don't work out and you have to do it again 鈥� it's frustrating. And through sport, you really learn how to deal with failure and how to be resilient, and that helped me in academia.鈥�
For Shivgulam, both sides of her hyphenate also embrace collaborative success.
"The experience is really defined by the people you're surrounded with. In sport, when you have wonderful teammates and wonderful coaches, it's easy to have a good time and succeed and enjoy what you're doing. And that's the same thing in academia. I feel really lucky now that I'm in a wonderful lab.鈥�
A different kind of reward
Shivgulam鈥檚 lab, the Autonomic Cardiovascular Control and Exercise Lab (ACCE), is a part of the Kinesiology Department at Dal. It鈥檚 run by Dr. Derek Kimmerly, who was Shivgulam鈥檚 undergraduate and now masters鈥� thesis supervisor.
Shivgulam鈥檚 undergraduate thesis was published in the science journal, Vascular Medicine, and looked at sedentary behavior patterns, or the time spent sitting or lying down while awake, and how that time affects the vascular health in our legs.
A PhD student in the lab at the time, Dr. Myles O鈥橞rien, encouraged Shivgulam to shoot for a masters by explaining how wonderful and rewarding research can be. Bolstered by support and self-drive, she applied.
Now, Shivgulam is halfway through a 12-month feasibility study to see whether it's possible to reduce people鈥檚 time spent sedentary by using educational and motivational prompts听and other intervention strategies.
If it works, Shivgulam hopes to see a relationship between decreasing sedentary time and potentially improved peripheral vascular health, especially in the lower legs.
Shivgulam will complete her master's degree this summer, after analyzing nine months of her study鈥檚 data. She hopes this work will be published, crediting the lab's collaborative nature with empowering her to succeed.
鈥淲hen one of your teammates goes the best time, that's also a win for you and a win for the team. And then the same thing academically, when one of your peers or friends or lab-mates gets an article published, that's a win for everyone because it's a reflection of the lab and a reflection of the environment and your work.鈥�
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Doors open
As a woman in STEM, Shivgulam says she would enjoy giving other people the same positive learning experience she鈥檚 had.
鈥淚 think that goes hand in hand with my role now, as well as when I was a captain on the swim team,鈥� said Shivgulam.
After the summer, the five-time Academic All-Canadian plans to pursue a PhD in the Geriatric Medicine Research Lab at AV俱乐部. This lab, based in the Halifax Infirmary, will focus on older adults and examine frailty.
鈥淚'm at this point in my academic career where all of my doors are open,鈥� said Shivgulam. 鈥淏ut right now I think I really like research.鈥�
As for working with varsity athletes in a researcher capacity, 鈥淣ever say never,鈥� said Shivgulam, 鈥渂ut I don't think I would want to mix work and play.鈥�
Ever the hyphenate, albeit in transitioning forms, Shivgulam will travel with the Tigers鈥� swim teams to Newfoundland in mid-February for the AUS Championships. As of now, nine swimmers have already qualified for USPORTS.
鈥淏ut we can still have qualifiers at AUS,鈥� says Shivgulam. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still time.鈥�