Angus Armstrong is jumping to great heights on and off the track
Two-time Australian pole vault champion, Angus Armstrong, has left no stone unturned when it comes to maximising his time and balancing goals in the pursuit of his goals in and out of sport.
With a Bachelor of Advanced Science (majoring in Neuroscience and Physiology), Honours studies in the making and part-time work as a tutor under his wing, Angus also manages to train as part of the WAIS pole vault program and compete at the highest level.
“I’m finding the workload manageable. The University of Western Australia are really accommodating, the elite athlete program there have helped me a lot. I just keep up the honest communication between the Honours cohort and WAIS and they’re all pretty great.
“I connect with my supervisor when I need deadlines to be protracted, which just gives me an extra few weeks. I’m still doing the same cumulative hours of work, but I’m avoiding chipping into my sleep, which is normally the first thing that gives.”
Originally from Sydney, Angus’ pole-vaulting days began after then high jump coach in Sydney served him a backhanded compliment that has paid dividends.
“After deciding to get some formal high jump coaching, within a few weeks the coach said to me, ‘well you’re not going to be very good at high jump, but I think you should try pole-vaulting.'”
“So, I was like ‘yeah alright,’ tried it and success came early, so I stuck with it.”
After success as an under 20, Angus was invited to join the WAIS Pole Vault Program, considered one of the best in the world and send three athletes to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I have really enjoyed my time at WAIS, it has enabled me to focus in on my training. I definitely found the move hard at the start, trying to balance moving out of home and the responsibilities that come with it ‚Äì like supporting myself finically.”
“But I now do a little bit of tutoring and disability support work to put food on the table and have found that balance with their support.
“A week of training on top of this, usually looks like: Jumping and sprints on Monday, weights on Tuesday, day off Wednesday, jumping and sprints on Thursday, weights and running Friday then finally my favourite session of the week on Sunday with gymnastics.”
As part of National Careers week, Angus’ words of wisdom for athletes who are also trying to balance work, studies and training, “Pick some non-negotiable hours that you commit to sleep and switching off, then build your week around that. You can do heaps and be objectively successful by ticking boxes, but if you’re waking up dreading the day, there’s no point to it all.”
With a bright future both on and off the track ahead, Angus has hopes of either using his studies in the world of medicine or side-stepping into management consulting.
“Both will celebrate my natural curiosity and interests, whilst maintaining that competitive element in my life.”