Ep 9: The Secret life of Tilka Paljk, OLY

In this episode, we talk with a swimming superstar from Zambia, Tilka Paljk. She has proudly represented her country on some of sports biggest stages, including the Tokyo Olympics, where she was flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

While excelling in the pool, she continued to pursue her academic journey, graduating from Stellenbosch University with a Bachelor of Arts in humanities, majoring in Political Science and History.

In this episode, Tilka shared what her journey looked like, how she navigated life as a student-athlete and what she learned along the way.

In this episode we speak with a legend from Botswana, Ouname. She's the first female professional golf tour player from Botswana and she has a Masters degree in forest resources. On top of this, she is an International Olympic Commitee young leader who started Thanya Monana projects.

In this episode we are joined by 8X Africa motocross champion with a masters of Philosophy. We speak on how she has been able successfully to navigate both careers, and how systems can be improved for others to be able to do this.

In this episode we are joined by two amazing gusts who come from the world of dance, but have also had to balance this with academic growth. They have both successfully used their passions to form a business, with Monique founding a dance company and Jade a dance school.

In this episode we speak about their journey of navigating dance and academics, and now becoming entrepreneurs.

This is a continuation of our conversation with Jacqueline Simoneau—Olympian, world champion, and leader in global aquatics.

We dive into her journey in artistic swimming, her role shaping the future of sport, and her IOC Young Leaders project Aqua Unity, which is helping keep more girls in sport through inclusion and opportunity.

A conversation on performance, leadership, and creating lasting impact beyond competition.

In this episode, we speak with Jacqueline Simoneau, a three-time Olympian and World Champion in Artistic Swimming for Canada, who is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Podiatric Medicine.Jacqueline shares her journey as a student-athlete and dives into the mindset, discipline, and habits that have allowed her to balance elite international sport with demanding academic pursuits. From managing pressure to staying focused through long training days and intensive coursework, she offers insight into what it truly takes to succeed in both arenas.This conversation explores how the right mindset can help athletes navigate high performance in sport while staying committed to their long-term academic goals.

Today we speak with our first Olympian, Lianna Sawn.

Lianna competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and talks us through her experience of being an elite level athlete while going through high school. She also went on to higher education to study sports science and is now a brand and community strategy lead at the women's focused life style brand, SHREDDY.

Enjoy the episode.

Todays guest is the amazing Sang Eun Lee. She is a former Hockey student athlete from Korea who eventually goes on to start the first women's hockey league in Korea called the Dream League. We speak about her student athlete journey, how she got into the Olympic movement and much more.Enjoy

Welcome to The Secret Life of a Student Athlete. Today, Lianna interviews out hosts, Jordan, Diana and Daniel to find out more about their backgrounds and motivations for the podcast.

Enjoy!