Grant House Has Prioritized Mental Health During Settlement Saga
His name has become associated with the ongoing transformation in college sports that you might forget Grant House is still an active swimmer, extending his career beyond his successful years at Arizona State and into his late 20s. As he trained for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and continues to aim for national-level competition in 2025, his ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA hovered over his day-to-day existence and created external pressures far different from what his national team brethren experienced.
As lawyers negotiated the House settlement, the eponymous swimmer was frequently left in the dark. House recalled occasions when he would wake up to hundreds of text messages and dozens of calls regarding a key update. After days of multiple workouts and time spent working as a strength and performance coach, he would be caught off guard as calls came in from friends and partners asking for his thoughts on changes he had no idea were coming.
“It was just that constant, constant breakdown that really reinforced making sure I took the time to have my mental health in check,” House said. “Just never informed of those events that are coming up, and I feel like I should and I deserve to as lead plaintiff.”
Grant House — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Those challenges prompted House to prioritize mental health each day, continuing a trend of elite athletes aiming to crush the stigma long associated with seeking help. For House, it was the burden of balancing such diverse priorities, including his bourgeoning career as a strength and performance coach, that prompted his mental health awakening.
Now, House regularly speaks with three different mental health professionals who take on different roles: “One’s just athletic performance, one’s the life coach and one’s for mental, emotional regulation,” he said. His regular routine for processing his thoughts includes journaling and also recording voice memos of his own thoughts.
“Just hearing how your tone is says a lot. That’s something that felt really weird, listening to a voice memo of myself, but I could really tell a lot about my energy in that,” House said. “Having a process of reading and journaling and writing down notes, that’s what really helped me get through, managing the pressure, managing the mental health and structuring my day when there’s so much going on.”
Ironically, another of his coping mechanisms was the same enterprise that led him on the path to changing college sports forever: swimming. Even while working through a grueling training program under the mentorship of Sun Devils head coach Herbie Behm, those practices have provided a welcome mental respite from the legal endeavor sapping his mental juices.
“I think swimming provided compartmentalization. There’s moments when you’re just in the pool, your head is in the water, you’re pursuing your goal. It was almost a therapeutic release,” House said. “When swimming, you have to be completely present in that. I can’t go coach when I’m in the water. I can’t have a call when I’m in the water. I can’t do any of these things when I’m soaking wet and working the hardest I can and focusing on details.
“I think in a very unique way, it helps me hyper-focus and ideally tune everything else out because in that hour, two-hour timeframe, physically I can’t do anything else.”
House’s particular balancing act is a unique one, but his situation bears striking similarities to other top athletes and even young professionals outside of sports in their respective fields. Trying to build careers while maintaining different interests and activities is a reality that cuts across diverse groups, and handling too much can be draining if not addressed until too late.
“I think a lot of athletes don’t get help until they’re really broken. One thing I want to do is normalize asking for support when you’re still whole,” House said. “There was a very big moment in my life where I was like, ‘I don’t know how to process all this on my own.’ And I think there needs to be professionals that can help me organize these thoughts.”
