Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241214_MA77417-scaled.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Summer Finke\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Summer Finke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Summer Finke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3f7a26207d6ca84ab34bc8b592d373\"},\"headline\":\"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing – Your Day Will Come\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\"},\"wordCount\":690,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Plateaus\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Commentary\",\"Swim Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing – Your Day Will Come\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3f7a26207d6ca84ab34bc8b592d373\",\"name\":\"Summer Finke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bce1a6b17f58df6722dae6cb29c6b747?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bce1a6b17f58df6722dae6cb29c6b747?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Summer Finke\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/summer-finke\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come","description":"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come","og_description":"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241214_MA77417-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Summer Finke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Summer Finke","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/"},"author":{"name":"Summer Finke","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3f7a26207d6ca84ab34bc8b592d373"},"headline":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing – Your Day Will Come","datePublished":"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/"},"wordCount":690,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Plateaus"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Commentary","Swim Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/","name":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing - Your Day Will Come","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-17T18:04:52+00:00","description":"Plateaus are a part of swimming and can create deep frustration. Keeping a positive mindset can help swimmers find the other side.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing – Your Day Will Come"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3f7a26207d6ca84ab34bc8b592d373","name":"Summer Finke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bce1a6b17f58df6722dae6cb29c6b747?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bce1a6b17f58df6722dae6cb29c6b747?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Summer Finke"},"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/summer-finke\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-2wFY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":602266,"date":"2024-12-17T11:04:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T18:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=602266"},"modified":"2024-12-17T11:04:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T18:04:52","slug":"breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/breaking-through-plateaus-keep-pushing-your-day-will-come\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep Pushing – Your Day Will Come"},"content":{"rendered":"

Breaking Through Plateaus: Keep the Faith – Your Day Will Come<\/strong><\/p>\n

One stroke, two strokes\u2014kick, pull, breathe. My heart pounded as I swam for the wall. I knew that this was the swim that\u00a0 would be different, this is the swim where my hard work would finally pay off. I touched the wall, and slowly looked up at the scoreboard as I took my goggles off. I could not believe my eyes. My breath caught\u2014not from exhaustion, but from another disappointment. The time on the board didn\u2019t match the countless hours of hard work I had put in throughout the season. I thought this was it\u2014my breakthrough moment\u2014but instead, it felt like just another letdown.<\/p>\n

Four years. Four years without dropping time. For a sport that often measures progress in hundredths of a second, this felt like an eternity. Physically, everything seemed right\u2014I was training harder than ever, eating well, sleeping enough, and staying consistent in every way I knew how. Yet, my results were consistent in another, much more frustrating way: I simply could not break through.<\/p>\n

Many swimmers will go through a time in their athletic career where they question if they have \u201cpeaked.\u201d Will I ever drop time again? Is this where my journey ends? Should I throw in the towel? In these moments, self-doubt can creep in and the negative thoughts can take over, they can start to overshadow the love for the sport that got one competing in the first place.<\/p>\n

The frustrating truth is, progress in swimming is rarely linear. The big time drops, the ones that make all the hard work feel worth it, are often followed by long stretches of drought. During these times, swimmers grasp for even the tiniest gains\u2014an extra hundredth of a second, a slightly faster turn, a cleaner breakout. It can feel like swimming in an endless pool: giving it everything you\u2019ve got but never quite getting anywhere. Yet, these periods of not dropping are where the most important growth occurs\u2014not just in the pool but outside it as well.<\/p>\n

What I failed to see during my plateau (or you may see in your plateaus) was that every seemingly \u201cunsuccessful\u201d moment was still contributing to my growth. Every practice, every drill<\/a>, every race that fell short of my expectations was building the foundation I needed for future success. It was during this period that I discovered a critical truth: success isn\u2019t just about the times on the board\u2014it\u2019s about the lessons learned along the way. My resilience, determination, and mental toughness were growing stronger with each so-called failure.<\/p>\n

Looking back, my plateau became one of the most defining chapters of my swimming journey. It taught me to celebrate the small victories: completing a challenging set, nailing a difficult drill, or simply enjoying the support from teammates. It taught me the importance of surrounding myself with good people and allowed me to lean on my teammates, my coaches, my parents, and my friends; which I believe made all the difference. Those moments are just as valuable as a medal or a personal best, even if they don\u2019t feel like it at the time. Sometimes, success is simply showing up day after day, putting in the effort, and trusting that the work you\u2019re doing will eventually pay off.<\/p>\n

The breakthrough came when I shifted my mindset. Instead of focusing on what wasn\u2019t happening, I started focusing on what I could control. My effort, my attitude, my resilience. I learned to find joy in the process, even when the results didn\u2019t immediately follow. And when the breakthrough finally came\u2014after four long years of waiting\u2014it was all the more rewarding because of the struggle that came before it. That breakthrough wasn\u2019t just a time drop; it was a culmination of every moment I spent fighting to get there.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re experiencing a plateau, trust that your breakthrough is coming and be confident in your ability to get there. You\u2019ve got this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"