of disbelief overtakes your facial expression and the flood gates open with all kind of emotions. First thought and what I hear from swimmers is this; What did I do wrong? (I hear it a lot). Your confidence has been shaken and I see it before we even meet, your shoulders are slumping and your smile has been turned into a frown that can be seen from far away.
The vast majority of swimmers, and virtually all parents believe that the time is the only measure of a race. In their minds they believe that a good time means a good race and a bad time means a bad race. I hear it all the time from swimmers returning from their race and declare that "I was bad" all because of the time. Sometimes they even get a P.B. but still think they are a failure all because of a time. As we know there're two sides to the coin and the other side is "I was great" all because of that time. The problem is that racing is never that simple.
Swimmers, coaches and parents unknowingly contribute to this with only praising the time and from this the swimmer is only thinking about that time. Their view becomes distorted and they can't see the good and the bad in the race which inhibits the learning process. In developing swimmers I always like to ask the swimmer this question first, How did that feel? What did we do good? What needs to improve? How were the underwater's, the turns, the pace, or did we increase tempo at the right time. Rarely do I mention the final time because that is not going to help the swimmer learn and develop. The standard for most age groupers (which I believe is that if they get to the blocks and just dive in the PB's will roll in.
The reality is that their strokes are often so inconsistent that they can add a lot of time as easily as they drop time. Sometimes I can see a young swimmer change their stroke several times within the race. You may ask how can they drop time if they are inconsistent and the simple answer is that their bodies are changing daily (they are growing). This is where the learning process comes into play and it's a hard concept to grasp for a younger swimmer if they are always asked their time and that becomes their whole focal point.
Conditions drastically change from meet to meet or even race to race and that is why its important for you to have a plan for the meet and this is where the problem starts for some swimmers. It's very frustrating for coaches when swimmers arrive at a meet without even knowing what events they are swimming. The failure to plan is a recipe for disaster.
Swimmers sometimes forget things in their pursuit of speed. Swimmers get into a routine with their practice routines and sometimes those routines are upended due to a variety of reasons ranging from illness, injury, vacations or school. When you have these missed opportunities they affect your body and it's internal clock.
Bottom line is that swimming has no guarantee but what I can tell you is this "If you pay attention to the process you will be in a better place to achieve your dreams. Let's go into competitions thinking about racing and less about time.
