By Wayne Goldsmith and Helen Morris<\/i><\/p>\n
PHOENIX, Arizona, April 29. SO you think you are a good swimmer?<\/p>\n
So you believe you could be a great one?<\/p>\n
Want to find out for sure?<\/p>\n
Then take the "Peak Performance Profile"\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..if you dare.<\/p>\n
Circle either A, B, C or D \u2013 i.e. one choice only:<\/p>\n
QUESTION 1:
\nThis morning I:
\nA: Got out of bed early, did some light stretching, went for a jog and ate a light healthy breakfast.
\nB: Turned on the TV, ate four pop tarts and went back to bed.
\nC: Woke up at the sound of my bedside alarm, jumped out of bed, packed my own swim bag, ate a light healthy breakfast and woke mom to ask her to drive me to training.
\nD: Waited for mom to wake up so she could pack my swim bag, make me a light healthy breakfast and take me to training.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 2:
\nWhen the coach asks me to work hard I:
\nA: Pretend I need to go to the bathroom.
\nB: Do the minimum possible amount.
\nC: Smile, do the work and ask him \/ her for more.
\nD: Do the whole set but keep looking for short cuts to make it easier.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 3:
\nWhen I get asked to help clean up swim gear or do other chores around the pool to help the Club and the Coach I:
\nA: I never get asked \u2013 I volunteer and do something to help my team every day.
\nB: I do it but not a single thing more than I have to.
\nC: I do it but complain about it to anyone who will listen.
\nD: Hide behind the pool blankets.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 4:
\nWhen the coach asks me to swim with perfect technique or to try a new skill I:
\nA: Pretend I can only speak a rare dialect of Zulu and can't understand what the coach is saying.
\nB: Complain to the coach "I can't do that" and don't really try.
\nC: Do the first few strokes perfect, then relax and swim my usual stuff.
\nD: Concentrate on every stroke and ask the coach for feedback on how I can improve.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 5:
\nToday I ate:
\nA: Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Lots of whole grain products.
\nB: Four pizzas, two large fries and sixteen tacos.
\nC: I skipped breakfast, had a take away lunch but a great dinner with quality complex carbohydrates and plenty of fresh vegetables.
\nD: Had a really great breakfast with whole grain products and fruit but cheated at school with dogs and fries. I tried to make up for it with pasta and fresh vegetables for dinner.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 6:
\nAnd I drank:
\nA: Plenty of fresh water and natural fruit juice.
\nB: Three glasses of fresh water but also two cans of soda at school.
\nC: No water \u2013 but lots of sports drink.
\nD: Two cases of beer and 4 gallons of soda.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 7:
\nWhen a new swimmer comes to my team I:
\nA: Introduce myself and show them where the change rooms are.
\nB: Kick them in the groin.
\nC: Welcome them like an old friend. Show them around. Introduce them to everyone else. Encourage them to become part of the team.
\nD: Say hi but let them figure everything out for themselves.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 8:
\nWhen I do kick sets I:
\nA: Stop to adjust my flippers 27 times during the set.
\nB: Do all the repeats but stop kicking 5 yards from the wall each time and just float the last little bit.
\nC: Push myself on every repeat and aim to get my best kick times as close as possible to my best swim times.
\nD: Do the first two and last two repeats really well (so the coach will notice me!).<\/p>\n
QUESTION 9:
\nAt the end of each training set I:
\nA: Try to get in the way of other swimmers still working \u2013 just for a few laughs.
\nB: Drink, stretch, take my heart rate and encourage other swimmers who have not yet finished.
\nC: Pee in the pool.
\nD: Take a drink and complain how hard that was.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 10:
\nWhen I go to meets I:
\nA: See how many chocolate bars I can eat at a time.
\nB: Swim a few races but I am really there to pick up gals (or guys).
\nC: Give it my best all the time, learn as much as I can from every race and encourage and support my team mates.
\nD: Swim a few races but only give my best in my favorite events.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 11:
\nWhich of the following describes you the best?
\nA: Funny, friendly, sociable, happy.
\nB: Tough, humble, determined, confident.
\nC: Stinky, rude, noisy, lazy.
\nD: Hard working, inconsistent, a bit crazy sometimes, passionate.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 12:
\nWhen I take some time off swimming to recover I:
\nA: Laze around and do nothing for a week.
\nB: Don't take time off. I don't need to.
\nC: Party \u2013 all night: every night!
\nD: Keep active with some regular light exercise, eat sensibly, get plenty of quality sleep and relax.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 13:
\nThe last time I pushed my body and my mind beyond what I thought was possible was:
\nA: Some time this season.
\nB: Some time in the last week.
\nC: This morning.
\nD: Never.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 14:
\nHow do you think your competitors would describe you?
\nA: Tough, hard to beat, always ready to race.
\nB: Can be hard to beat sometimes but is really inconsistent.
\nC: Easy to beat \u2013 you don't know how to race.
\nD: That kid who is always eating donuts in the marshalling area.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 15:
\nWho emptied the wet, dirty swim gear out of your swim bag yesterday and put it in the washer \/ dryer?
\nA: No-one. It's still in there!
\nB: What's a swim bag?
\nC: Mum
\nD: Me<\/p>\n
QUESTION 16:
\nIn the gym I:
\nA: Work hard on the exercises I enjoy doing.
\nB: Work just as hard as I do when I am training in the pool.
\nC: Walk around doing body builder pose-downs to impress the gals (or guys)
\nD: Short change \u2013 i.e. if the coach asks me to do 20 of some exercise I do somewhere between 12 and 16.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 17:
\nI make sure every start, every turn, every dive and every finish are race quality\u2026.. :
\nA: Never
\nB: Sometimes
\nC: Usually
\nD: Always<\/p>\n
QUESTION 18:
\nI can achieve anything if:
\nA: I believe I can, work hard and never give up.
\nB: I get lucky.
\nC: I pay the swimming officials to "look the other way".
\nD: I work hard. <\/p>\n
QUESTION 19:
\nIf I experience an obstacle or set back like an injury I:
\nA: Look for someone to blame for it.
\nB: Get really happy because it means I don't have to go to practice! Yahoo!
\nC: Work hard to overcome the problem, keep positive and do everything I can to keep working towards my goals.
\nD: Tell mom. She will take care of it for me.<\/p>\n
QUESTION 20:
\nThe reason I swim is:
\nA: I really love it. I enjoy the sport. I love working hard and improving.
\nB: I enjoy being fit and healthy.
\nC: Mom wants me to do it.
\nD: It's a great place to pinch stuff out of other kid's bags!<\/p>\n
PEAK PERFORMANCE PROFILE ANSWER KEY:<\/p>\n
QUESTION NUMBER\tA\tB\tC\tD\tMY SCORE
\nQUESTION 1: \t3\t1\t4\t2
\nQUESTION 2\t1\t2\t4\t3
\nQUESTION 3\t4\t3\t2\t1
\nQUESTION 4\t1\t2\t3\t4
\nQUESTION 5\t4\t1\t2\t3
\nQUESTION 6\t4\t3\t2\t1
\nQUESTION 7\t3\t1\t4\t2
\nQUESTION 8\t1\t2\t4\t3
\nQUESTION 9\t2\t4\t1\t3
\nQUESTION 10\t1\t2\t4\t3
\nQUESTION 11\t2\t4\t1\t3
\nQUESTION 12\t3\t2\t1\t4
\nQUESTION 13\t2\t3\t4\t1
\nQUESTION 14\t4\t3\t2\t1
\nQUESTION 15\t2\t1\t3\t4
\nQUESTION 16\t3\t4\t1\t2
\nQUESTION 17\t1\t2\t3\t4
\nQUESTION 18\t4\t2\t1\t3
\nQUESTION 19\t2\t1\t4\t3
\nQUESTION 20\t4\t3\t2\t1\t<\/p>\n
MY TOTAL PEAK PERFORMANCE PROFILE SCORE\t<\/p>\n
For example:
\nIf you answered B for question 10, you scored 2.
\nIf you answered C for question 18, you scored 1.
\nEnter all your scores in the MY SCORES column and add them all up so you have a TOTAL PEAK PERFORMANCE PROFILE score.<\/p>\n
WHAT YOUR TOTAL PEAK PERFORMANCE SCORE MEANS:<\/p>\n
20-30: A score in this range means you are total turkey. And you know what happens to them at Thanksgiving!<\/p>\n
31-40: Hey C'mon. Quit foolin' around. You can do better.<\/p>\n
41-50: So you do some things right some of the time but most of the time you swim about as well as a rhinoceros flies.<\/p>\n
51-60: To get this score means you must be hitting a few "threes" or even fours. There is great hope for you, young Jedi.<\/p>\n
61-70: Now we're talking. You've got what it takes to be the best. You just have to believe you can be and never, ever, ever give up trying.<\/p>\n
71-80: Wow \u2013 amazing! You scored better than me (and I knew all the answers!). Fantastic. You are an Olympic Gold Medalist in the making and what's more \u2013 you are a Gold Medal human being (which is even more important.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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