Our journey into this brand new season starts in 4 days. Have you sat down and envisioned how you would like it to end in late April. It all starts with a good attitude that first practice. This journey will be like a roller coaster ride with all the highs and lows and the key to having a successful journey is to stay balanced. By all means celebrate your highs but don’t get too high because the lows are going to smack you in the face at any moment. Just like the highs don’t dwell too long on the lows, understand that it happens and move on to the next race, the next workout, or the next day. Let’s challenge ourselves to navigate those peaks and valleys in a healthy and productive way so that you can reap the rewards of your hard work and sacrifices. Every experience regardless of the outcome has value and it will be up to you to find that value, learn from it and move on to our next destination. What you do in practice TODAY will show up in a week, a month, six months, a year in a swim meet. Sometimes swimmers need to learn that "things take time" to develop.
We will also have to find balance in our lives. We talk a lot about our core and balance to make us better swimmers but you need to find that balance in your daily lives which will also make us a better person, teammates and in the end a better swimmer. Some things that you need to be able to balance are first and foremost family time followed by school work. This is a great sport and your parents and maybe your entire family will make sacrifices that allow you to participate Thank them often and never take it for granted. As for you school work please stay on top of it, turn your assignments in on time Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be accomplished today. Remember you are a student and then a athlete. Make sure you are getting your proper rest and your eating healthy and don’t forget to hydrate.
As you make your way on this journey remember that sportsmanship is important both in success and maybe even a little more in defeat. This all starts in workout and how you interact and treat your teammates. From an early age when you congratulate someone look them in the 👀 and be sincere about it. It really bothers me as a coach to see youths do the old brush off move and storm off. You will be treated the way you treat others. Here is a question I would like you to answer, have you ever thanked a timer for getting you your time?
Show a little passion and courage during your travels this year. Challenge yourself to new events at those non championship meets especially early in the year. We all know if it was up to you that you would swim your best events in that first meet. Bad move. If you are looking for a best time in those events before your in shape you may be sorely disappointed especially for older swimmers, young age groupers can get away with this sometimes as they are still growing.
We are all human and we make mistakes along the way but the true mistakes are the ones we don’t learn from and try to correct. A good example of this is that you know how important it is to do fast turns and Dolphins off the walls but if you refuse to do them or do them only when you want to, Who are you really hurting at each of those walls? When do you think those mistakes are going to smack you in the face? Probably at a meet. Swimmers who are smart and focused during workout are fast 🏊♀️ . Be your HERO during workout. Look inside of yourself this season and remember this, "the easy road travel is not necessarily the best one to get you to your final destination.
In closing this one out I want you to take a moment this Labor Day weekend and appreciate the opportunity that you have to take this journey with us. Appreciate your teammate, "your workout buddies" for they are the ones who are in the pool grinding it out with you set after set. They will suffer the same highs and lows, they will be the ones celebrating with you and they will be the ones with you during the lows when you need that moment of encouragement to swim on. Don't fail each other in that moment. In about 20 years you won't remember your time in that 400 IM (oh and we will swim the 400IM) when you set the world on fire but you will remember your teammates that were cheering for you with every stroke of the race. It takes hard work to be a good teammate but the lessons you learn will serve you for a lifetime.
Have a Great Holiday Weekend!
Leave a comment if you wish. Maybe some workouts you like to see first few weeks. Remember drilling and kicking
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