EUSA Insider:
Dorina Kiffer
Age: 23
Place of Birth: Esztergom, Hungary
University: Corvinus University of Budapest (HUN)
Sport: Rowing Published 28 June 2019
How and why did you get involved in Rowing?
When I turned 10, my mother enrolled me in the Rowing Club of Esztergom in my hometown. Since she was passionate about rowing in her young days, she brought my brother and I to the club as well. She wanted to share the feeling and show us the pleasure that can be experienced only through rowing, so we spent our childhood and teenage years at the rowing club and on the river Danube.
What do you study, and how do you balance your study, training and competition?
In 2017 I graduated in Finance and Accounting, and currently I am doing my Master’s studies in Accounting at the Corvinus University of Budapest. Keeping a balance between study and sport was a great challenge for me, as I would like to do both at a higher level. In easier semesters I set more challenging, bigger targets in sport. This way, in the first year at university, I managed to get to the U-23 World Rowing Championships, and later, in the first year of my Master’s studies, to the EU Games in Coimbra. In more difficult semesters I rather put emphasis on studying, but I always kept training and competing at a national level. 
Tell us about your experiences at the European Universities Games 2018. Was it your first time at a EUSA event, and what did you enjoy the most?
Since I am a university student, I have wondered about taking part in an international university competition, as well as competing in single sculls in an international field. When I heard about the European Universities Games for the first time, it became my biggest dream to take part in it once. In 2018 I managed to make my dream come true in the first year of my Master’s studies. I enjoyed that I could compete with similar people, athletes who are students at the same time, just as me. The place was also beautiful, and Coimbra became my favourite city thanks to the memories.
Why do you think taking part in university sport is important?
University sport represents the values that I believe in: to be excellent in mind and body. It gives the opportunity to compete with people who have similar values, to whom both studying and sport are important. Most of the students give up sport when they go to university, but university sport and student-athletes are a good example that it is possible to keep doing sports, and to stay both mentally and physically active during university years.
"University sport represents the values that I believe in: to be excellent in mind and body."
In 2019 the European Universities Championships will take place in Jonkoping, Sweden. Do you hope to be there, and if so, how have your preparations been, and what do you hope to achieve?
Unfortunately I got an injury, so I will not take part in the championships. Moreover I will be on an exchange semester in Norway. But I hope I can find a club and train there, and to be there at the next EU Games.
What is your favourite university sport moment?
The moment, when I reached 3rd place on the European Universities Games in Coimbra. When I crossed the finish line, it was the most beautiful moment of my life, and I felt that it was worth all the effort. When I got the medal, I could hardly see through my happy tears. Everybody smiled at me, the coach who helped during the competition hugged me and congratulated me, and my parents were crying with happiness. I am so thankful that they could be with me on this day. Still today, if I recall these moments, sometimes it brings tears to my eyes. I cannot be grateful enough for that day.
What is your message to European student-athletes like yourself?
Doing sport during university taught me a lot, what are essential in life: time management, persistence, willpower and humbleness. My message to athletes is that you should not give up because of university. No matter in which level you do it, just do it! Not only because of success, but for the pleasure of exercise, the self-improvement, for belonging to a group and for the unforgettable experiences and memories that only the sport can give you. It is easier to be excellent in mind, if you are excellent in body.
EUSA would like to congratulate Dorina for her success at the 2018 European Universities Games, and we wish her all the best in the future!