The Qualities of a Competitive Swimmer

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Photo Courtesy: David Rieder

By Nicole Sabin, Swimming World Intern.

The CeraVe Invitational is a perfect mid-season opportunity for swimmers to post best times. Behind all these fast swims and fun times stand months of hard work.

The swimmers spend numerous hours a week training for an opportunity like this one. They show commitment, perseverance, courage, humility, accountability and integrity. After pulling aside a couple of swimmers, it was interesting to see how they thought these qualities contributed to their training and overall performance.

Commitment is a big part of becoming a competitive swimmer. Without committing and making swimming a priority, it would be hard to become a good swimmer. Badger Swim Club’s Mary Rotenberg agreed.

“If you want to become a good swimmer, and if you want it bad enough, you have to be willing to commit. I had to give up a lot of other sports and afterschool activities in order to focus on swimming, but it was worth it and I am happy with my decision,” she said.

What is nice about committing is that it allows you to focus on something. Over time your hard work pays off and the things you once considered dreams become reality.

Once you commit, your coach depends on you to come to practice. Here is where accountability comes in. Eva Canning of Long Island Aquatic Club describes her weekly schedule, “I go to swim practice eight times a week including doubles. It’s rough but I signed up for this and everyone depends on me so there’s no backing out.”

If you want to achieve something, showing up is not enough. You have to show perseverance, to be willing to try your best even when everything is not going the way you planned it to. Hailey Harkins of Berkeley Aquatic Club talks about a similar experience.

“The other week we were doing this long IM set, many times I considered slowing down, but I never did. I knew that if I tried my best now it would help me later on,” she said.

“Being honest with yourself and with your coaches is one of the most important things,” said Julian Hammer of North Baltimore. “If you don’t communicate what you are feeling, your coaches will not know what you are experiencing. This makes it hard for them to give you advice and feedback on your stroke. That is why I consider integrity to be one of the most important qualities of a swimmer.”

Making your dreams come true is great and stuff, but how about the other swimmers, the ones that don’t get their dream times? Do they deserve to feel upset just because they did not do well? There is no “I” in team for a reason, a team is not made up of one person, but instead of many. After talking to Alex Harner of North Baltimore, I was soon able to see why she thought that humility should be a big part of who a swimmer is.

“Even when you do well, it is very important that you stay humble. Everyone is different and making someone feel bad just because they could not do what you did is not ok. Teammates should be able to appreciate and support one another despite their differences in accomplishments.”

Charlie Kulp of Berkeley Aquatic Club says he loves him teammates. What makes Charlie’s teammates so special? He thinks that one of the qualities that makes him a good swimmer is his courage and his teammates are part of the reason why he has so much of it.

“Before we head into a main set, we know that it will not be easy. My teammates and I turn around to one another and give words of encouragement. This really helps me get through the main set especially when it gets really tiring,” he said.

All swimmers are different, but many good competitive swimmers have these qualities. None of that will turn you directly into an Olympian, but they sure will help you become a better person and a better swimmer. So why not hug a teammate the next time they get a personal best or look at the bright side the next time you get DQed?

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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SocialMediaDad

7 years ago

Hey guys! I am in the swim team too! in novice gold. look s like fun!