Passion and Performance

To succeed in the sport of swimming you need to have passion. There is an inner drive which becomes hardwired into the swimmer at a young age. It is this passion for being one's best, and competing against others to see who is the best that keeps that passion going. The need to see oneself improve. That is why as a coach, I am strive to constantly give praise to any form of improvement I see in my swimmers. Now, if something needs to be fixed, then the swimmer needs to know, and I will work with them. But to keep the experience of being at swim practice and the environment of the pool fun and enjoyable, there must be an element of fun to keep things positive. Younger swimmers are excited: they love getting in the pool and just swimming. How do we keep hold of that child-like enjoyment when the swimmers get older, and the sets become long, and the training becomes more grueling? We must constantly remind the swimmers why they are there at the pool. As they get older, their goals become more advanced and detailed, so coaches use the goals of the swimmer to keep them motivated. Also, the coaches create an environment that will supply the swimmer with the passion they need to come back the next day.

As coaches, we can't manufacture the passion within a swimmer. We instill it when they are young, then we create an environment where (hopefully) that passion and drive to become faster becomes instilled in the swimmer naturally. We remind them of their goals, but don't beat them into their head. When swimmers are with their friends and teammates, having a good time working through a set, or just goofing around, the experience and environment are ideal for personal growth. When a coach tries to hard to control the swimmers by force feeding them goals they think they should have, and unattainable expectations, the swimmers become discouraged and frustrated. Just as the swimmers adapt to the sets and the practices, the coach must adapt to the swimmers. Often I find myself going into a practice with a set in my head, a goal or two for practice in mind, and have to change that set because the swimmers are not in a coachable mood, and not responding to my efforts. I will still find way to accomplish my own goal for them, but in a way where the swimmers are being more successful, and understanding the goal better. I can't tell my swimmers to stop feeling like crud and expect them to magically go from a negative attitude to a positive attitude. The best I can do is alter my approach, and invite them see beyond the negatives.
When a swimmer becomes frustrated with practice, how do we help bring them back in, and see the big picture? We remind them that they are special. They have worked hard, and pushed themselves to a point where turning back and giving up would be detrimental to their development. We find ways of helping them find that passion they need to perform well, even when they're frustrated with themselves.

To succeed as a swimmer, and as a coach, there must be an element of passion for the sport. That deep longing for success, to achieve goals, to set new standards, to accomplish some feat, all that desire is built from an early age, and developed by swimmers, coaches, teammates, and family working together for the overall success of the swimmer. So coaches: Keep up the energy! Keep it fun! Be honest and sincere with your swimmers! Swimmers: Be open and engaged! Don't let yourselves get dragged down by frustration! Remember why you are there in the water! That passion will lead to great performances.

Two Sides of the Coin: Negative & Positive

You had a bad day. Take a deep breath. Open your mind, and flip the coin. To each down side, there is an upside. Monday morning, I had one of the worst practices I have ever experienced. The night before should have been full of excitement, as it was the first night in the new house, but instead if was filled with queasiness and nausea from food poisoning (take note: measure your intake of movie theater popcorn!).
So I wake up and jump out of bed at 4:28am, later than I had hoped, and rushed around, still feeling half sick, looking for my swim bag. I rush out the door, and get there just in time before Coach closes the pool doors. I get to the locker room, and with horror I realize that I forgot to grab a swim suit. With a heavy heart, I walk out on deck where everyone else is getting their dynamic warm up started, and ask if anyone has a spare suit. The results are mixed. I end up wearing two very old suits which are slightly stretched out, and end up feeling like someone has attached dumbbells to my hips.
And then I remember it's butterfly day. My heart sinks to the soles of my feet.
Very soon after we get in the water, my body makes me very aware that I have not fully recovered from my 11,000 meter open water race less than two days ago. My shoulders feel like they are made of lead. I am dragging behind in the lane. I still feel nauseous. I swim eight seconds slower than my best when we get up and race. And to make matters get even worse, an enormous wolf-spider decides to hop into the gutter of our lane to make friends with my lane mates and I. My arachnophobia immediately kicks in. One of my lane-mates is gracious enough to remove the spider from the lane, and dump it outside.
It is then that I think, 'I've had it. I just can't go on anymore. This is a terrible day, and I just should have slept in!'
And then I look up and see that day's quote on the wall. It is all about positivity, and not letting negative thoughts infect our minds. "Don't water the weeds."
I stopped to think. Sure, I didn't like spiders. Not one bit. But a teammate saw my distress, and was kind enough to take care of it for me. My coach had held the door for me, and didn't lock me out. I accomplished great things at my open water swim by swimming more than I had ever done in my life. Of course I was going to be tired! And while awful, food poisoning only lasts for a short time. And, my teammates were nice enough to lend me their suits.
While I was down, my teammates and coach picked me up. They helped me to keep going. I finished the practice, and I didn't give up when everything in me wanted to. When you're having a bad day, and everything around you seems to be crumbling down, remember that there is always something good happening too. The negatives may seem to add up, but for every negative there is a positive. You just have to find it, and focus on it. Instead of letting negative thoughts cloud your vision, focus on the positives, and what you can do to make the day go your way. Everyone has a bad day. Everyone has moments where they want to quit and leave it all behind. It would make things so much easier wouldn't it? But did taking the easy way out ever make you stronger? Did it help you later on when you faced another problem, or another bad day? No. Face the problems, the negative thoughts, the seemingly bad circumstances head on. Be courageous and resilient. Counter the negatives with positives, and you will become stronger mentally and physically. Don't water the weeds.

Automatic

We wake up in the morning. We roll out of bed. We fumble for the alarm. We ignore the intense, gut-wrenching urge to crawl back into bed. We stay focused. One thing at a time. Bathing suit. Towel. Goggles. Check. Grab a bite to eat, and we are out the door. Sooner than we think, Coach is yelling at us to jump in the pool. As the icy water shocks our bodies, making that first breath catch in our throat, we start getting into a rhythm, letting our arms and legs carry us back and forth across the pool.
At least, that is how good swimmers function. Great swimmers do things a little differently.
All too often swimmers find themselves simply going through the motions. Going to practice is just what they do. They swim through warm up without thinking. They swim their sets with one goal in mind: get it done. They do it because that is what they are: they are swimmers. They swim. Swimmers go to practice, and work hard. Great swimmers break the mold. Every day is a new day. Every stroke an opportunity to push further, faster, better. Our coach constantly tells us to "Stay in the NOW." This means that we need to focus on what we are doing right now, and put our greatest effort into whatever it is we are doing. Many, many swimmers go to practice. Only a few go to practice with the right mindset. Some say the daily grind can get boring. It becomes automatic. It is just something we do because we've done it for so long, and there is no other way of doing it. Oh, but there is. Life is an journey, full of hills, mountains, valleys, exciting times, and times where that black line at the bottom of the pool just never seems to end. When we jump in a pool we have made a choice to be better. We have made a choice to chase our dreams, and fight for our goals. By making good choices every day, our positive habits become automatic. They become ingrained into our minds and bodies. But to be excellent, we must constantly be pushing and looking past those automatic motions. Instead of just going through the motions, think about them: How can we make them better? Sooner or later, excellence, that drive to become greater than what we are, becomes automatic.