5 Things to Do After Your Championship Meet

Photo Courtesy: UC San Diego Athletics

By Emma Foster, Swimming World College Intern

When you have spent so many months leading up to your championship meet focused purely on what will happen in those three to four days, the moment it is over can leave you feeling slightly adrift. Whether you had the best meet of your life, or left feeling like you didn’t quite accomplish everything you had hoped to, the actions you take post-meet are almost as important as the preparation you did in the lead-up.

A swimmer knows that the swimming season never truly ends, but the few weeks after your championship meet often represent a time of rest and revitalization that comes so rarely in our sport. Taking advantage of this means more than just spending hours and hours on the couch watching Netflix (although I will never argue that this can be an important piece to any break).

Here are several things every swimmer should do post-season in order to let themselves absorb the work and passion they put into the last six months and prepare themselves for the upcoming season…

1. Swim It Off

Photo Courtesy: Michigan Athletics

Although getting back in the pool right away may be the last thing you want do after your championship meet, taking a few days to swim out and get your body feeling good again after you put it through the wringer of a multi-day meet will ensure that you feel better once you get back into the water full time.

You don’t need to get in and immediately do a full workout, but getting in 2-4,000 yards of easy swimming to get the buildup of lactic acid out of your body will make that first practice back feel a thousand times better than it will if you don’t touch the water since you pretended to warm down after your final race.

2. Reflect

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Whether you were successful in your goals, or didn’t quite achieve them, taking a few days after your final meet to reflect on the season and prepare for the upcoming one is as important to your mind as a swim out is to your body. Take some time to think about everything that went right, and the things that went wrong during your season. Looking back gives you 20/20 vision, so use this opportunity to be honest with yourself in order to make your next season even more successful.

Make sure that during this reflection process you are doing something to cement your thoughts. Whether you want to write them down on paper, or talk with a teammate or a coach, take every advantage to give yourself a chance to really get something out of this self-analysis.

3. Catch Up

Photo Courtesy: CollegeDegrees360

Any swimmer knows that the winter/spring season often take you away from the classroom as you travel to multi-day meets that are often out of state. Taking the week after your championship meet to get caught up and back into the grind of school is a necessity. It may be tempting to use the time you would usually spend at the pool lounging around doing nothing, but hitting the books for a few extra hours the days after the meet will ensure that you aren’t scrambling at the end of the quarter or semester to try to suddenly make up everything you missed during your trip.

4. Do Something Outside of the Pool

Photo Courtesy: Lauren Benoit

If you are taking more than a few days out of the pool before your next season begins, use this time to try some different forms of exercise that you don’t always have the chance to do. Go for a run, or a hike, or try a spin class. Doing something outside of the water will be revitalizing for your mind, and also keep you in shape. Just don’t get hurt!

5. Set New Goals

Photo Courtesy: Mariana de Paula

As any swimmer knows, the end of a swim season is not the end of your swimming journey. Whether you were blown away by your performance, or a little disappointed because you know you can do better, use your passion to ignite a fire to use your experience as a building block in your swimming journey. As much of an emphasis as our sport tends to put on times and places, the mark of real success stems from the ways that you handle the journey. Taking steps to reinvigorate yourself and dig back into the process of training that comes with this sport after your championship meet will ensure many more successes in the future.

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Michael Nguyen

8 years ago

Haley Hamza you’re famous!!