The Fifth Time Around
My final swim season officially begins in three days…Time is moving way too quickly for my liking. It feels like just yesterday that I was moving back into my college apartment, the nerves more potent than the excitement. But I’m in the thick of it, now, and, somehow, my anxiety has disappeared. All I feel now is anticipation for the season and for deepening my understanding of physics and astronomy.
I told my coach as much when we had our pre-season meeting this past Tuesday. Before asking anything about swimming, we talked about how I was handling my academics thus far. In my post-season meeting with him last year, I expressed concern about how much time I would have for swimming considering how heavy my workload would be in the fall. He was very understanding about it and told me to just communicate with him on what I needed to do. Now that I’m actually taking these classes, I’ve realized that it definitely looks worse on paper than in practice. I’m not the only one taking three upper-level physics courses and a math course, and three of my professors are fantastic; I’m also really enjoying my classes, which makes the work feel less like work and more like satisfying my curiosity. I told Coach that I’ve been able to stay on top of all my work while also attending all of the preseason workouts, so I should be in good shape — both mentally and physically — for when the season starts. I was pretty happy to be able to say that, and I think he was happy to hear it, too.
We then talked about my practice schedule for the first semester. Since the men’s and women’s swim teams have the same coaching staff, there are way too many swimmers for them to coach us effectively all at once. Therefore, we split up into different practice groups at different times during the day based on class schedule and stroke preference. Since most of my classes are in the morning, I’ll be in the earlier group. I honestly prefer this because I get the set over with and have the rest of the afternoon to do homework and relax before going to bed.
My events are the 200 IM, 100 back, and 200 back, so I have an interesting mix of stroke preference groups. On Monday, I’ll do a middle-distance set that will help increase my stamina for the 200s. On Tuesdays, I’ll do a backstroke specialty set. Wednesdays are always recovery days (thankfully), but I’m back at it on Thursdays when I do an IM set. Fridays and Saturdays are always variable based on if we have a meet or at what point we are at in the season, but I like that. The rest of the week is so rigid that it’s nice to have some days that keep me on my toes. On top of all of those swims, we have Tuesday and Thursday morning lifts, followed by a short swim. On Tuesdays, I work on power, which is one of my favorite things to work on. We throw on weight belts, or use pulleys to add some resistance, and then we swim as fast as we can. I don’t go as intense on Thursday mornings — instead of working on power, I work on technique and have the chance to get some feedback via video. This is all pretty standard for me, which reassured me, but it also made me a little nervous.
As an age-group swimmer, my old coach always used to say: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.” I couldn’t help but think about that quote during my pre-season meeting. I’ve been doing the same type of training for the past two years, and I feel like my results aren’t indicative of how much work I put in. I’m the type of person who will work as hard as I can every time I dive into the water, so my effort has never been the problem. Two years ago, I was not in a very good place mentally. I was struggling during the whole swim season, but it all slammed into me during my championship meet. Afterwards, I couldn’t look at a pool without spiraling into a dark place. Last year, I did the same type of training, but also did a lot of work in therapy reshaping the way I viewed swimming and who I am as a swimmer. It really paid off. I went a best time in the 200 IM and got super close to my best times in the 100 and 200 backstroke, which I haven’t been able to do since I went those times. However, in my last year, I really want to make sure I do everything I can to unleash my full potential. I want to enter my last meet knowing that I did everything I could to best prepare myself. Will doing the same training help me get there? I wasn’t sure.
When I brought these concerns up to Coach, he knew exactly what I was talking about. He told me that instead of changing my entire training plan, we should just try and keep putting my body in situations that it hasn’t been in before. After all, the quote is referencing our body’s ability to adapt to stimulus, and if you keep giving it the same stimulus, you aren’t giving yourself the opportunity to learn and grow. I’ve gotten comfortable with my training, so I need to find ways to make it uncomfortable sometimes. For example, when we are going fast, I’ll go all out and not be worried about dying towards the end of the set. I’ll work on my breath control, which I’ve never been particularly good at. I’ll also mix up my strokes a little more — I wasn’t able to swim butterfly or breaststroke until halfway through the year last year, so I’ll start to incorporate those strokes into my regular practice to give my body a break from swimming freestyle and backstroke all the time. All of these things will put me in situations it’s not used to which will only make me a better swimmer.
Coach also asked me what my training looked like over the summer — I told him lifting was my primary focus, with a few swims sprinkled in there where I worked on technique and swimming more efficiently. The pre-season workouts have been going fantastically for me; my feel for the water is already back and better than it’s ever been and I’m already hitting times I wasn’t hitting until the middle of the season last year. I think the strength gains is already helping me in more ways than I realized when I was doing it. I feel so much stronger and look stronger, too. This has boosted my confidence inside and outside of the pool.
I’m also so much happier now than I was last year. I’m truly enjoying my training and look forward to spending time with the team. I told Coach that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer, and he laughed. He also brought up that even though I’m doing the same type of swim training during the year, I’ve already changed my preparation for the season, which is still something. Having that extra strength to work with, and continuing to work on it throughout the season, will be extremely helpful when building up my speed and stamina. When looking at the big picture, I’m not doing what I’ve always done, so I’m not going to get what I’ve always gotten. I know it’s going to be better.
I walked away from that preseason meeting extremely hopeful and excited for this last year. My swimming career has been full of ups and downs ever since I started sixteen years ago, but I believe it’s only going to be up from here. I am stronger both mentally and physically than I’ve ever been before and there is nothing weighing me down. People always say that the “third times the charm,” but I’m starting to believe it’s the fifth time around where everything really comes together.
