A BAD RESULT

 

Okay, so the race didn't go as planned and you look at the scoreboard in horror.  Do you go into a downward spiral or do you take the path of looking for the positives that you can take from the race.  First off own your race, no excuses, so it was not a great race but neither was it terrible and you need to accept that sooner than later.

Everyone will have those days when it seems like the universe is against you in your daily life and for our purposes your swimming.  The ability to understand this and what to do next will be key into what happens next.  

It's understandable to fall into the trap of self doubt or self pity where you begin to question your swimming capabilities.  This sport is hard because we are always

and sometimes too often looking at that clock for clarity in our efforts. The hard fact is that some days you going to have great swims, and at the same time there will be those days that are not so great.  The key is to understand that and to move forward from both.

The truth of the matter is that swimming has and will always be littered with peaks and

,

valleys along its path and guess what, your human and humans are imperfect.  You always have been and you always will be.  It is hard to be perfect every minute of every day.  You can try and avoid bad results, or from falling short during a meet, but inevitable they will happen, when you're just not going to be at your best on any given day.  Now how you deal with that moment will determine how you will move forward.  A bad result does not make you a "bad swimmer" all of a sudden, it just means your an imperfect human who had a imperfect race or meet.

At every level of swimming from a developmental swim meet in the summer to the olympics and everything in between swimmers are looking for that great swim and sometimes they come up short, and yes that includes the likes of  Phelps, Andrew, Baker, King all national team members who have gone through those peaks and valleys just like yourself.  Your no different.  Don't see a bad result as a reflection of yourself.  Don't get so upset that you let it consume you, or define you as a swimmer or more importantly an individual.  Those are the moments that you need to trust yourself and the preparation that you have put into it.  Lean on yourself a little more in those situations and most of all trust yourself.   You haven't become a bad swimmer overnight, you'll be fine.  

You will need all your trust and the knowledge that a bad result does not define you if you are to emerge from this on the other side ready to tackle the world.  Accept what ever happens, no excuses, learn from it and move forward.

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