TURNING THE PAGE

Meeting one’s goals is exciting and very satisfying. If you accomplish a goal that you have set for yourself, it is only right to take a few moments to shout, "HOORAY!" and accept the accolades of your parents and peers. If you don’t meet your goals, it is all right to take a few moments to hiss and boo and feel disappointed. But once the few moments have passed, swimmers need to start looking ahead to their next goal. Realizing that swimming is an ongoing process is an important part of the strategy for success. Striving for goals is part of the energizing force that propels swimmers to success. And, as always, swimmers need to be aware of short-term goals as well as long-term goals.

At the meet itself, when a swimmer is done with his or her event and after they have properly warmed down so that they will be prepared to race again, the swimmer comes to talk to the coach about their swim. The coach is going to evaluate the swimmer’s technique and performance. If the swimmer had a great swim and qualified for the finals’ session, ideally they will be able to take in the coach’s evaluations and make any adjustments to try to swim a better race that night. If the swimmer had a great swim and didn’t make it into finals, still, they should be able to listen to the coach’s advice and apply it to their next swim - i.e. if they swam the 100 back and later swim the 200 back, or if they swam the 200 IM and will later swim the 400 IM, they should learn some things to help them with that next swim. Swimmers may be making adjustments to their goals throughout the meet. "Oh, if I had just had a better turn I would have made it into finals in that event so I am going to concentrate on that turn in my next event to try to get in position to score ...."

The bigger picture also looms. Often swimmers will be so focused on their immediate goals that they fail to look ahead and be prepared for what happens beyond their big meet. Those who are looking beyond the immediate are usually the swimmers who continue to achieve success. Some swimmers will strive for Y Regional Meet cuts and achieve them, but go to the meet and swim poorly because they haven’t prepared themselves mentally by creating new goals for the meet itself. Some swimmers will have their last big hoorah before they age up and then let their performance slide because they haven’t been looking ahead toward competing in the next age group. Successful swimmers are always aware of the next steps along the way and try to keep themselves in position to move forward. Looking ahead at the big picture helps these swimmers know what short-term goals they need to set to achieve their next long-term goal.

As coaches, as we come into these end-of-season meets, we will be evaluating the training of the season. After the meets, we will pause, lighten the training load, catch our breath and allow the swimmers to catch theirs, perhaps fine tuning some mechanical work in practice, and then move on into the next training period. Swimmers should be looking ahead to their summer plans. Everyone in the Gold group and above should be thinking about swimming long course. The benefits of training in a year-round program the whole year-round cannot be overstated. Whether you plan to swim with a summer league team or not (and yes, most of our swimmers do because it is FUN!), if you want to continue on the road to successful swimming, you should plan to spend some time practicing with LY Swimming this summer. The benefits of good training typically show themselves six to nine months down the road so taking the summer off will not enhance your competitive swimming next year. We saw great improvements this winter among the swimmers who swam with us last summer.

Good luck to everyone as we near the end of the short course season and KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE FUTURE!