(Race Report for Southern Masters Swimming Short Course Meters Championship)
We know him as the most decorated Olympian of all time. He's earned 22 Olympic medals in his career, 18 of them gold. He currently holds world records in the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, and 400-meter individual medley, and formerly the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Apart from being the most famous athlete of our time, Michael Phelps is arguably the greatest athlete to ever live.
And why shouldn't he be? Anyone with his height, webbed feet, and a wing span greater than his height, SHOULD be a world-class swimmer... The guy was born a genetic freak, "gifted" in the swimming world, which directly resulted in his success... Life's not fair, Some people get all the luck... I bet the guy has never faced a REAL challenge in his entire life, apart from getting caught with drugs or alcohol...
It's so easy to think that the tools to success were placed in his lap, but I wonder if Michael Phelps would consider his success luck? I personally don't consider my own (small) successes "luck"... I consider them the result of work. HARD work. How many hours of his life were lost to the water? How many sacrifices did he make to find enough hours in the day to train? (Let's remember, training doesn't JUST mean swimming... it also means fueling and sleeping.)
If you have ever swam on any kind of team before, you know that practice goes something like this: stick face in water & swim, stop to listen to coach yell at you, stick face back in water & swim harder, stop to listen to coach yell at you, stick face back in water & swim even harder.... Somewhere in there you might have an opportunity to sneak a quick conversation in with a teammate, but for the most part, practice consists of hard swimming and little social interaction. Painful, and not fun. Now imagine 2x3+ hour practices a day with that routine. Most of us would crack.
Now let's talk about challenges.
Aside from being slightly awkward (above paragraph might help explain some of this), I sometimes wonder if his insecurities fueled his drive in the water. If you've ever watched an interview with him, you've seen that he has a terrible underbite which affects his speech. He's openly stated that it bothers him, but due to the time he would have to take off from swimming, he was unwilling to have it surgically fixed.
Also, the guy was recognized to have potential early, and began his rigorous training with coach Bob Bowman by the age of 10. Until his retirement, he never really experienced a normal life. We're talking girls, friends... everything in his life has revolved around swimming and his desire to be a champion.
And it's not like he jumped in the water as an infant and was naturally gifted. Michael began swim lessons at 7 (not extremely early in life). Did you know that he was afraid to put his face in the water? The greatest swimmer of all time was once uncomfortable in the water. The first stroke he mastered was back stroke.
Why am I harping on Michael Phelps?
It's so easy to look at the world's athletes and write them off as untouchable superhumans. They're not. They too have to work hard. They face challenges, just like us. They have imperfect families, struggle with ADHD, combat injuries, and deal with the stresses of everyday life. They were not always masters of their sport. Like everyone else, they were once a beginner, and had to learn to fine-tune their skills.
I'm not saying that hard work and dedication will take ANYONE to the Olympics... there definitely is a genetic factor that sets some people apart from the rest of us. My point is that anyone can make a decision to be great, WORK HARD, and be able to achieve great things.
But I'm not a swimmer.
This is the most cowardly thing I've ever heard another triathlete say, & I've been guilty of saying it myself.
I grew up playing in pools and even took "swim lessons" at the summer daycare I attended. Until my early 20's, my swim skills consisted mostly of doggy paddling and varieties of different strokes to keep my head above the water. I learned free style 3 days before my first triathlon, and ended up doing a side stroke the entire 400meters because I freaked out in open water. For years I managed to half-ass my swim training and just hope I could make up for it on the bike, and I honestly had no desire to put the work into swimming. In Virginia, I began swimming with the masters group that Kyle started, mostly just to show support than anything else. Even swimming 2 days a week, I began to see improvements. I've only recently (mid July) begun to take swimming more seriously, though admittedly I've only been swimming 3 days a week since Mighty Magnolia. Even still, I work hard at practice and am still seeing small improvements.
In recent months, I've realized something. Competition is good, and even drives our motivation. However, I think it's unhealthy to train to beat a certain person or time, with only that goal in mind. If you constantly train with that perspective, you will never be able to reach your full potential because you have already set limits for yourself.
If you are a weak swimmer, don't limit yourself by saying you just can't do it, and not even try. Join a masters group and MAKE yourself suffer through it. It's hard to master something new and foreign, and it's humiliating to feel like you are the only person splashing through the water when everyone else is actually able to swim well enough to follow a set. But guess what? We've ALL been there, and we respect you for being courageous enough to try. Don't give up because you will improve.
Southern Masters Swimming Short Course Meters Championship
Several people from our masters group went to New Orleans over the weekend for the Southern Masters Championship. I was a little surprised that I could feel the difference between the 25 yards we've been training at and 25 meters... during warm ups I was getting ready to do my flip turn and was thrown off by the 3 extra strokes I had to take... Yeah, it kind of throws off your rhythm... Needless to say, I am not Michael Phelps.
Times for Short Course Meters Championship (coming soon because I can't remember all my times!)
200m Free
50m Free
1500m Free 23:59
400m Free
100m Free
200m Mixed Relay
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