My team, Rockwall Aquatic Masters is having a long course meet on 6th July and I am actively trying to convince team mates to sign up. On my blog I was describing my disappointment that more of my team mates had not signed up. One commenter posted the following, "Why do they have to participate? I have more fun going to practice than I do meets. I don't find meets fun anymore." I guess I had assumed that most people enjoy meets and I found it strange that my team mates did not want to sign up. This got me thinking and I wondered why people compete or don't compete? Any thoughts?
I saw that and got to thinking about it myself... I love doing meets now, but if you had asked me seven months ago I might have reacted differently. I did my first meet in December and really enjoyed it, but I was pretty hesitant going in... not knowing what to expect.
Competition is fun, I love it, even when I'm only competing with myself, but for some folks it might seem daunting. Even as competitive as I am, the thing that keeps me going back now is the encouragement and support I get from other swimmers on other teams. I love to see people 40 years older than me still starting off the blocks, or people who are 20 years younger starting from push. All different ability levels, it's great... maybe the folks who shy away from ever swimming in a meet think that only the super-competitive super athletes do them. That hasn't been my experience.
I saw that and got to thinking about it myself... I love doing meets now, but if you had asked me seven months ago I might have reacted differently. I did my first meet in December and really enjoyed it, but I was pretty hesitant going in... not knowing what to expect.
Competition is fun, I love it, even when I'm only competing with myself, but for some folks it might seem daunting. Even as competitive as I am, the thing that keeps me going back now is the encouragement and support I get from other swimmers on other teams. I love to see people 40 years older than me still starting off the blocks, or people who are 20 years younger starting from push. All different ability levels, it's great... maybe the folks who shy away from ever swimming in a meet think that only the super-competitive super athletes do them. That hasn't been my experience.
