DONE. But I can't say I wasn't on Facebook a bit..... :)
There is no doubt a buzz of excitement in the swimming world
as the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, is returning to the
pool. After taking media by storm post
2012 Olympics, Phelps announced his retirement to pursue other interests. So
why, merely a year post announcement would this accomplished athlete come out
of retirement and toe the starting blocks? I would like to say it through one
of my favorite poems by Jeff Rushton:
“Success is not the
triumph over regress,
Success is the power
to suppress,
Success is not the
money or the fame,
Success is, knowing
you are still the same,
Success is not the
power or the pride
Success is not a gift
or gain,
Success is accepting
and believing in your name,
Success is not a point
or goal to seek,
Success is believing
you have never reached the peak,
Success is”
Jeff Rushton
Michael had a goal, and after years of pursuit, achieved
this goal. Upon defining “success,” every champion has in them the need for an
ever-changing definition of perfection. As “success is believing you have never
reached the peak.” So you ask yourself, “okay I’ve got the dreaming and the
hoping down, how do I go about the pursuit?”
Let’s start with setting a goal. Have you sat down and
defined EXACTLY what your goals are? Are you looking to final at IE Champs, or
swim for a Division 1 College? Are you wanting to lead your lane in practice or
maintain 5 dolphin kicks off of each wall at a swim meet? Are you wanting to
win a gold medal at the Olympics or secure a specific time standard? These are
all questions that you should be asking yourself. “What am I looking to
accomplish?”
A good start would be to pull out a piece of paper and write
down one specific thing you can work on right NOW. This can be as simple as
maintaining streamlines off each wall at practice, or completing an entire
session without stopping. Is there something that the coaches have been repeatedly
bringing up in practice that you could apply to your stroke? These are daily
goals that you are fully capable of taking charge of RIGHT THIS MOMENT.
Second step is to envision yourself one year from now. Is
there a meet you would like go to or lane you want to move up to? Visualizing
yourself a year from now, are you winning your heats at swim meets? Write these
dreams down.
Third step is counting five and ten years from now and
repeating this process. There’s no right or wrong way to daydream of future
achievements.
After having this all written down, take a few more pieces
of paper and write them down as “I will achieve _____ by _____.” By correlating
a date with your dreams, you are setting up a plan towards achievement. This
gives you a timeline. In order to transform your dreams from an idea into
reality, you must first start with believing in the possibility. Take these
pieces of paper and put them places where you will see them every single day.
You can put them by your bed, on your mirror, or on your fridge. These are
places you will frequent, and will give you the reminder of what you are working
for, especially when the going gets tough.
Which brings us to the last, and final step toward achieving
these great feats: the hard work portion. If becoming an Olympian came as easy
as hoping and dreaming (and wanting something very very badly), we would have a
very long list of people on our USA Olympic team. This is where you transition
from the work you are putting in from your heart, to work you are willing to
put in with your muscle.
You must take advantage of every opportunity to take a step
toward these goals. When practice gets tough, and you have the CHOICE to skip a
flip turn, miss an underwater pull, or float into the wall on a sprint, you
must fight the urge to take the easy route. For, in order to continue this
improvement, you must find flaws in performance to guide you to further success.
As they say, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting a different result.”
By choosing to stay strong when the workouts get tough you
are creating good habits that will come naturally to you when you get up and
race. The last thing you want to be concentrating on when you are in a close
race with your biggest competition is “Now how did that backstroke to
breaststroke turn go again?” These habits start to create with every backstroke
to breaststroke turn in warm-up, drill set, main set, and warm down. Do you get
to get out in the middle of your hardest race at a meet to go to the bathroom
or fix your goggles? Practice training hard so that you can race hard.
Focused swimming is fast swimming. Every success starts with
a dream. Dreams are achieved through successful goal setting, a passion for the
activity, and a willingness to work ridiculously hard to achieve this dream. Swim on, Channel Cats!!
LOVE, ERIN
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