Rohit Sawalkar has a calm, confident presence and during the global pandemic, that's exactly the type of leadership SFU Athletics and Recreation needed.
 
For two years, Sawalkar has played a leadership role in helping the department navigate the pandemic and he has cared for the physical and mental well-being of nearly 400 student-athletes.
 
Sawalkar runs SFU Athletics Sports Medicine and manages a team of athletic therapists who work with the school's 17 varsity teams. The centre's work ranges from injury prevention to sports injury management and rehabilitation.
 
In a regular year, this work is challenging, considering the many types of sports, athletes, and staff involved. During a pandemic, this work is even more immense. And Sawalkar has gone above and beyond in caring for each and everyone he sees.

"When the pandemic hit, amidst the chaos and uncertainty, when fear and caution gripped most of the world, it was Rohit who stepped forward for us to reassure our students and staff that we were going to get through it," said Associate Director of Student Services and Senior Women's Administrator, Kelly Weber. "His demeanor was always positive and he conducted himself with empathy and thoughtfulness."

Sawalkar worked with staff to come up with specific treatment plans for student-athletes during COVID. His implementation of phone and video appointments is common practice now, but early in the pandemic it was innovative, and displayed the type of outstanding care our athletes continue to receive.
 
Sawalkar is a part of the SFU Athletics & Recreation Return-to-Play Committee, which developed strategies and protocols that enabled student-athletes to continue to train and eventually compete and the community to enjoy camps and recreation programming during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It has been a collective effort, it continues to be a collective effort and it will always be a collective effort moving forward," said Sawalkar, whose wife, Prachi, is also a physiotherapist. "My wife and family have been super supportive throughout the pandemic which at times needed me to work odd hours and weekends."

The couple have a 4-year-old daughter named is Shriya, who plans to be a volleyball player, basketball player and Physiotherapist at SFU.

When not spending time with his family, managing the department's COVID-19 response and recovery has been a challenging opportunity that Sawalkar has tackled head-on, developing strategies and protocols that enabled student-athletes to continue to train and eventually compete as part of SFU's Return-To-Play Committee. Rohit listened thoughtfully to the issues and circumstances on a weekly basis and then provided direction from a medical and student-athlete centered approach.

In the summer of 2021, SFU's varsity teams resumed competition for the first time since March 2020. It was a major milestone that could not have been reached without Sawalkar's outstanding work.
 
Of course, competition against other schools meant new issues, such as travel to the United States, which was only possible by air. A COVID-19 on-campus screening program was needed, as well as a way to test for the virus while in the US.
 
But again, Sawalkar led the way. Throughout the pandemic, he worked hard to keep up with the consistently evolving knowledge around COVID-19, and provided advice the department needed to handle changing circumstances. This included direction on testing, screening and dealing with positive cases. He also trained Athletics & Recreation staff to do COVID-19 screening in our facilities.
 
"We are so grateful for all he does for so many," said Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation, Theresa Hanson. "Rohit brings loyalty and compassion in all that he does for our student-athletes."
 
Right now, SFU's varsity teams are once again thriving in their sporting venues, and continuing their tradition of making history as evidenced by the school's 2021 cross country and individual Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles. These are amazing feats considering SFU's teams did not compete in 2020 while many others did. This would not be possible without the hard work of Sawalkar in making sure there was an environment in which SFU athletes and teams could improve their performance while keeping safe in a pandemic.