Swimming is the type of sport that takes a special athlete to be successful in. Not everyone can find the motivation to jump in the water every day and work hard. In order to reach that highest success point, every athlete must work hard and have a positive attitude towards the sport. 5 Tips to sticking with it and excelling in the sport of swimming are:
Tip #1: Don’t be scared to go out of your comfort zone.
The sport of swimming is not only physically demanding but it asks a lot of the athlete emotionally as well. There will be some days where your body feels like it can’t take that extra stroke and your mind just wants to shut down. You will soon learn to realize that all of that is normal for a swimmer to feel. Your mind will give up long before your body does, so get comfortable training uncomfortably.
Tip #2: Respect your teammates and coaches.
Your teammates are important to any swimmers success because the sport is seen as being strictly individual. The better the relationship with your teammates the stronger the team aspect of swimming will be present. You’ll end up racing a lot of them throughout your career, so learn to respect them all. Listen to your coaches as they have been in your position before and they know what it takes to get to the next level. Sometimes they may seem mean or too hard on you, but just know without their practices and guidance you won’t reach all your goals.
Tip #3: Set goals, and then break them.
Swimming is a sport where goal setting is the foundation to all great swimmers success. Your personal gains aren’t measured by how many races you win, but how many times you can set a “time” goal and break it. It’s important to keep your goals realistic and within reach at all times. In order to see improvement you must have your mind set on the goals you and your coaches have set for you. Constantly remind yourself of them, and even set smaller goals to accomplish each practice.
Tip#4: Embrace being that Special Athlete
Like I’ve stated before, being a swimmer takes a special breed of athletes. Not everyone can stay motivated to succeed while swimming back and forth in a pool all day long. Swimmers find their sport enjoyable for other reasons outside of their winning percentage. Be that special athlete and work hard doing it. If you are doing multiple other sports while swimming, make sure that the other sports fit into your training. Don’t be ashamed to say you are a swimmer, be proud of what you love to do because not everyone can do it.
Tip #5: Always strive to find swimming enjoyable and fun
This tip is the most important of them all! The second you don’t find the sport of swimming fun and enjoyable anymore, it will become harder to succeed. You will get lazy and find excuses not to go to practice or compete in a meet. You will zone out your coaches and discourage your other teammates. I encourage you to keep finding the little things about swimming enjoyable and the overall concept of the sport to be fun. If you aren’t finding the sport fun anymore, don’t force yourself to love it. All swimmers peak at different points in their career. Keep setting goals and building strong team relationships, and I promise you swimming will forever be your favorite sport.
*Come succeed in swimming at our multi-sport summer camp!
