Fear is a real thing in swimming. It can be fear of a new event or distance, fear of a unfavorable outcome, fear of getting tired or any other thing that each individual swimmer might face.
There is nothing that you are going to face in a race that we have not faced down in practice, the trick is to face the fear with a plan. If you have put in the effort and work in practice then you’re ready to face the ugly beast with confidence. If you are always doubting yourself and not giving a honest effort in practice the beast will probably win most of the time.
Every swimmer can pretty much talk themselves into or out of, almost anything. Your words have power. What you repeatedly say to yourself will eventually lead to a strong mindset and eventually become your belief.
Good swimmers will not let negative thoughts hang around and that includes those races with unfavorable outcomes, that is why we do a swim down. Go warm down after your race (positive or negative) and do on your own not with a group of friends. Just you and that voice in your head. Have an honest conversation and then move on to the next race.
Bottom line is that you spend more time with that voice that lives between your ears, so you may as well make it a voice that helps you in the long run, right?
You don’t have to pretend everything is easy. Be honest with yourself, than than give yourself something that will end up being useful. Talk to yourself as you would to a teammate—-with patience, encouragement and a clear plan of attack.
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