The toughest race takes place in the mind
Interview with Kacper Mickiewicz, a rower with AZS Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, 2025 Polish Senior Champion in the lightweight single sculls, medallist at the World U23 Championships, multiple medallist at the Polish University Championships, sports scholarship recipient and recipient of the Marshal of the Region’s Award
Rowing is not a sport that often makes front-page headlines. How did your adventure with rowing begin, and who has had the greatest influence on your sporting development?
My adventure with rowing began in primary school, when a new PE teacher arrived at the start of the school year. He was also a rowing coach. Although I was initially sceptical, as I still dreamed of a football career, my parents and aunt encouraged me to go to my first training session—and I really enjoyed it.
At the beginning, my parents and my first coach had the greatest influence on my sporting development. Over time, other coaches, teammates from my club and athletes from teams across the country also played an important role. I also cannot forget my fiancée, whom I met thanks to rowing. She has been by my side in both the joyful and difficult moments.
Fot. z archiwum zawodnika
Athletes often say that the biggest opponent is not a rival on the course, but one’s own mind—fatigue, pressure, and sometimes even frustration. What do you struggle with most often, and what is the greatest challenge?
To begin with, I agree that we are our own biggest opponents, and that our minds can turn generally manageable challenges into Mount Everest. Throughout my career, the thing I have struggled with most has been being away from my loved ones—my fiancée, my parents and my family in general.
Although I have always received tremendous support from them, their absence has constantly been with me. Sometimes I missed something as simple as a reassuring pat on the back and hearing face to face that everything would be all right. I needed that to quiet the thoughts that would appear in the back of my mind, telling me that I was not good enough.
To what extent do preparations for the most important regattas now rely on technology, and how important is a coach’s intuition?
In my opinion, modern technology is extremely helpful in identifying technical mistakes and monitoring health. Sports watches, for example, measure more and more parameters every year. Video analysis also makes it possible to spot errors that are difficult to notice at first glance; with slow motion or frame-by-frame playback, everything is clearly visible.
However, in my view, a coach’s intuition remains absolutely crucial. In most cases, it is the coach who knows best how a particular training session affects athletes and how they should respond to the workload. It is no secret that anything can look good on paper, while an observant coach can see when it is better to ease off and reduce the load rather than push an athlete to the point of extreme fatigue.
Fot. z archiwum zawodnika
Do you have any personal pre-race ritual?
Yes. Like probably everyone else, I enjoy getting myself fired up by listening to music that gives me strength and motivates me to act. Before every start, I also try to call the people who are most important to me and tell them, for example, that I am about to get on the water and ask them to keep their fingers crossed. If they cannot answer, I simply send them a voice message.
What sporting goals have you set for yourself for the coming years?
My main goal for the coming years is definitely not to lose the joy of practising this beautiful, but also very demanding, sport. I would certainly like to try its new form—coastal rowing. And my greatest sporting dream has always been to compete at the Olympic Games.
Kacper Mickiewicz podczas gali wręczenia stypendiów sportowych marszałka województwa, fot. Szymon Zdziebło/tarantoga.pl dla UMWKP
July 2026