Does Studying Make You Ski Faster?

The news out of Westminster College in Salt Lake City was loud and clear after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Twenty-three of the U.S. Olympians, including five medalists, happened to be Westminster students.

So the question arises: is there any connection between academic pursuits and athletic success? The two activities appear disparate, but I’ve looked at some of the data, and it appears a positive relationship could exist.

Researching the alpine racing world, I compared the 2013-2014 U.S. Ski Team B, C and D rosters with the 2014-2015 B, C and D rosters. I worked to compare team members who stayed on or moved up from their team level with those team members who moved down a level or dropped from the team. (I didn’t include A-team members, as that group has only one athlete younger than 24 years old.)

Here are the numbers:

• 19 B/C/D alpine team members took at least one college class last year
• 11 of those 19 athletes, or 58 percent, moved up or stayed on their team level
• 22 B/C/D alpine team members did not take a college class last year
• 9 of those 22 athletes, or 41 percent, moved up or stayed on their team level

Let’s repeat: 58 percent of those taking college classes moved up or at least stayed on their team level, whereas only 41 percent of those not taking college classes moved up or stayed on their team level.

This one look would not stand up to scientific scrutiny and is just a one-year sample, but the numbers are a good conversation starter. In addition to the data, those medalists talk anecdotally about how college classes bring important balance to their lives. Is taking a college class a positive factor in athletic performance? Chime in and let us know what you think.

I’ll report on the other disciplines in the next post.