Kane Townsend takes hard work beyond the table

National Careers Week (NCW) is an initiative that aims to celebrate careers and promote the personal benefits of career development. Table Tennis Australia (TTA) wants to recognise the athletes who are working hard to develop their dual careers. 

Commonwealth Games athlete Kane Townsend comes from a table tennis family. He started playing with his older brothers when he was five years old and never looked back. 

The 28-year-old is currently balancing his table tennis career with the final year of his PhD in Pure Mathematics at Sydney University. 

Maths and science were Townsend’s favourite subjects at school, but once he got to university it became clear that Maths was his favourite subject and he credits that to his university lecturers. 

“I enjoy the accumulation of learning in maths and how everything you learn previously plays an important role in the new topics you learn,” Townsend said. 

During the honours year of his undergraduate course Townsend successfully completed a research project and that convinced him that a PhD was the next step to take. 

“Although it is challenging to be constantly learning abstract ideas and half the time I am extremely confused, research allows me a lot of freedom to focus on the areas I am interested in,” he said. 

Having had two papers published into mathematics journals in recent years, Townsend is currently deciding what to do once he has finished his PhD. While he is looking at opportunities that would allow him to continue doing mathematics research, he hasn’t shut all the other doors yet. 

“I am looking into any other math or statistics related jobs, but being able to continue playing table tennis will be a factor in the decision making process,” Townsend said. 

Balancing being in the National Squad and finishing a PhD is challenging at times but TTA and the Elite Athlete Program at Sydney University have helped support Townsend in all his endeavours. 

“Although it is hard to balance sometimes, I think having only one focus area would not have given me the same appreciation or enjoyment and possibly success,” Townsend said. 

You can catch Kane Townsend in his table tennis element at the TTA Tour - Sydney May 29-30.