Perseverance

Perseverance: a steady persistence in a course of action.

This word is extremely important to me as a swimmer. It is always at the back of my mind at every practice, swim meet, and team activity. To me, it is extra special because being good at something, in this case my sport, isn't easy. Your coach knows it, your parents know it, do you? Well I constantly have to remind myself that it isn't going to come easy. I realize it when I skip social events to go to a workout or wake up before school to go to practice. However, when I go to a meet, that is the time I really need to remind myself of why this word is important.

I expect immediately that at every meet I am going to drop time, be faster, and achieve my goal; but this really isn't the case. Recently, I was really down after my last swim meet. I was shocked after persistently being at practice day after day and working myself to my limit. I thought that I would drop time for sure. I didn't. I was crushed. Everyone else around me was dropping time, why couldn't I?


I realized at that meet that it really isn't going to be an easy year; my body has changed and school has changed. I realized I'm going to need to work even harder than before and change my mental attitude more than anything. I now know that in order to be better I am going to have to want it more than before.

The True Definition of a Swimmer

Swimming: the act of a person or thing that swims, the skill or technique of a person who swims, the sport of swimming, being fully submersed in a liquid or fluid.

Above is the definition of swimming. This is hardly the half of what defines the sport of swimming and the life of a swimmer. Swimming is a truly unique sport. However, most swimmers are the same. There are several different things that will definitely point out who swims and who doesn't set foot in the water twice a day, every day (the coordinated on land). 

Imagine sitting class and a classmate walks by; there is this odor that fills your nose. You can't quite put your finger on it; not good, not bad. Is it perfume? Do they just smell? Then, all of a sudden you get a picture in your mind about going to the pool last summer with friends or family. No it isn't perfume, you might think they smell or you might like it oddly. This fragrance is chlorine. The smell sticks to your hair, clothes, and even in the pores of your skin if you are a swimmer. You cant get rid of it. You think its gone after scrubbing in the shower with the most flowery smelling body wash, putting on a scented lotion, and spraying perfume; but no. There is still that one person that asks, "do you smell that?" in class and you must explain that you swim. 

Swimmers have this swagger. The coolest "look" by my standards. First, swimmers don't try very hard to look nice. Girls almost always wear sweats and a sweatshirt; its the uniform. Secondly, the hairdos. Guys: discolored. Girls: in a bun. The chlorine already mentioned is just fabulous for hair. It is nourishing and makes it silky and smooth. Nope, quite the opposite really. Boys with dark brown or black hair, no longer have brown or black hair. It is this gray, yellow color just at the tips of the hair. Almost as if the hair has sand embedded throughout it. Girls get tired of having to do theirs; the solution is a messy, totally cute bun right at the top of their head. Why do it if you're just going to get it wet again later in the day?

Negativity and Competitiveness. These are two major qualities in a swimmer. I have never met one that doesn't complain about going to practice at five a.m. and then again at five at night, missing every social event known to man because of practice conveniently at the same time, or tan lines when summer roles around. Swimmers put in so much time. It would be nice to maybe just be fast without having to go to practice so that we could just get to the fun part, racing. Races are exhilarating and swim meets are super fun. Getting on to a pool deck with your team behind you, with your chlorine smell, hair in a bun or bleached, and in sweats is the best feeling. There are hundreds of other swimmers there just like you; but none just the same. There are the special things about your team, your coach, and your friends that divide you from the others the minute you step onto the block. 

Here is the best video that truly helps to convey what I have just blogged about. This video has an example of every possible thing a swimmer would never say. A group of NOVA swim kids made it and it is absolutely awesome :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H9tmrBia3g

Swimming and Lightning Don't Mix

It went from being almost 80 degrees and beautiful on Monday to cold, rainy,  and almost fall-like on Wednesday in Huntington Beach, California this past week. I woke up at the crack of dawn (5AM before the sun even rose) Wednesday morning. It was rather chilly with a breeze that made me want to go back into my warm bed as I walked out my door to go to swim practice. I had stayed up late the previous night doing AP Biology homework; I was praying that I wouldn't have to swim that morning. I made it on my way to practice and I drove all the way to Beach Boulevard towards Ocean View High School when I saw the sky light up.

There was a big flash of lightning that illuminated the entire black sky in my view. I said to my mom, "Maybe I wont have to freeze this morning!" However, when I arrived on the deck my Russian coach didn't seem to think that the lightening was close enough to us in order to stay out of the pool. The five us that came were all scared and protesting. Then it began to pour and became very windy. At that point, my bed seemed like a fabulous place to be versus getting into a pool that wasn’t covered the night before. 

My coach was relentless and said that the lightening was way too far away because he didn't hear any thunder. We threw our kick-boards and other materials by the edge of the pool, ran, and dove into the ice-cold water. It was cold. It was raining. I was tired. After doing a 1,000-yard warm up I made it back to the wall and realized, everyone was out of the water. I was kind of confused at first; then I heard the thunder. I swear I jumped out of that water as fast as I possibly could. 

Coach Vladi was very proud of the 5 of us that actually showed up to this practice. He deemed us "professional" swimmers; more like the more dedicated ones. 

Splash Magazine Lessons From London

Over the past seven years of being a participant in USA swimming I have automatically received the "Splash" magazine with several interesting and insightful tips on how to eat healthy, train, and have the right mind set in order to be successful in swimming. My magazine this month in the October issue had an article that I loved discussing the different lessons everyone should learn from all of the athletes that competed in London. In the article on magazine by Aimee C. Kimball, PhD, she quotes, "Whether you watched five hours or 500 hours you can learn a lot from what the athletes went through and how they competed" (page 16). She stated six great lessons to be learned from the swimmers at this past summers Olympic games in London.

The first lesson was to compete. Kimball gave the definition as, "giving it their all" (page 16). I agree with her statement completely that a person truly isn't a competitor unless they give it all they've got. My motto is always "leave everything in the pool". Swimmers must focus on their own race; not the people next to them or if the competitors are better than them. Just compete and again, leave everything in the pool.

The second lesson was to play to win. "If athletes go into competition afraid to lose, they will not compete to their potential" (page 16). This is definitely a very important one. Swimmers cant psych themselves out before a race. They must be calm, cool, and collective yet pumped to win. You must have confidence in order to get where you want to go. Otherwise, the more confident and competitive will leave you at the end of their trail of bubbles.

Silver is still success was the third lesson from Kimbell's article. A lot of swimmers or athletes say, "second place is the first to lose". Yes, this is literally true but someone would way rather be in second than in fifth place. I use a second place as a motivation to get first the next time. People can't beat themselves up especially when you do your best. Second is one step closer to first.

The fourth lesson was "win and lose with grace and dignity". One of the things I hate the most is when a swimmer right after a race they won was extremely cocky or on the other extreme, so upset that they make up some lame excuse for not winning. First of all, no one likes a cocky person. Please, just be humble. Secondly, don't make up a dumb excuse for losing. Own up to it. Be better next time.

Compete and cooperate is a lesson that everyone can use in all aspects of life. I compete and constantly swim against some of my best friends. I don't always win because they are extremely talented swimmers. However, I use them as people to push me to be better and to work harder. I don't beat myself up when they beat me. I just say to myself, "next time". Sometimes I do actually beat them the next time, sometimes I don't. Overall, healthy competition is a good thing.

The last lesson is to enjoy the experience. Several times a week I groan and sigh when I have to go to practice. However, I must remind myself that I do swim for a reason. I do actually love it. I have trouble skipping a Friday night football game or a sleepover with friends every once in a while. I just have to remember that I have friends on the team that are sacrificing the same things, as I am to be at practice too. So, on those nights I spend it with my swim friends in the pool. Most of the time it is just as fun as going to the football game.