Journaling: The Chance to Dive Between the Lines

Journaling

By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern

We’re called to line up behind the blocks, and I begin my routine. The headphones and warmup comes off, placed in a white basket. Then, I remind myself to leave my goggles alone. I shake out any last nerves, slapping my legs quickly three times. Complete silence falls over the crowd as the referee’s whistle summons us into position. The buzzer goes off and I reach for entry. I count breaths and keep my head down as I tuck tight into my first turn. Just as I begin my breakout, my dog leaps into my lap and sends me tumbling.

I wasn’t deep into the pool, I was deep into my journal.

For many in-season swimmers, journaling is a critical tool. Swimmers use journaling to set goals, to log practices, write what techniques they want to improve on, build a race plan, record how their meet went, track their diet or simply to reflect on their season. Journaling allows for swimmers to stay immersed in their passion and to perform at their best.

But now, coronavirus seems to have changed everything. For the safety of athletes, pools have closed down. The NCAA Swimming and Diving championships and the 2020 Olympics have been canceled. And, there remains uncertainty as to what will happen with all indoor and outdoor pools throughout this summer. So what should swimmers do now? There’s never been a time in which journals are more critical.

Regardless if someone is a swimmer or not, they should start or continue to write in a journal. The lack of a pool affects divers, water polo players and others as well. Also, journaling can start at the age group level, carry on into high school, and onto college.

Here are some things athletes should capture in their journals called the five Fs:

Feel

Athletes should record how they started the day and how they ended the day. There might have been some memorable moments that happened. For each event that occurred, athletes should express how they felt about each one too. Another journaling suggestion for this section is continuing to visualize as a way for the athlete to keep a feel for the water.

Fuel

While it can be easy to break the healthy diet they developed during their season, athletes should still maintain their diet. Each day, athletes can log what they ate in their journal. For example, athletes can incorporate a breakdown of the foods in their meals, which includes their snacks as well. They can follow up by writing a new recipe they found online or heard by a friend.

Fitness

Despite the closure of pools and gyms, athletes should continue to work out. A journal allows athletes to plan their workouts. Some other topics to address in a dryland workout section would be: what were the athletes able to do, what resources are they able to have, did you do a bodyweight workout or with weights, who they worked out with, how they felt during and after their workouts, how many workouts did they do, etc. This aspect of a journal to not just help their mental health, but to also look out for their physical health.

Family

Every athlete has something(s) in their life that sparked joy in them whether it’s a person, place, or thing. Whatever that something is becomes a part of their life and it might be or gets treated as family. Athletes can talk about the little things they appreciated that happened during the day or week. In journal entries, athletes should write down two or more things they are thankful for.

Fun

To top off the journal, athletes should log what they’re looking forward to. It can be something that’s happening in the next day, week, month, etc. During this time, maybe the athlete is going to connect with their friends or family that they haven’t seen in a while. This part of journaling allows for athletes to add something extra positive.

One of the most important things an athlete should do right now is to stay mentally sharp. Journaling is a way of helping athletes stay focused and maintain a good mental health.

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