Getting over a bad performance

Sometimes, with all the work and rest, the times are just not there. When that has happened with me, I try to find a few positives to take away from the meet, even if they are not directly related to the swims. Momma said there'd be days like this ...

Take comfort in the fact that you didn't fly from Florida to swim poorly (you look like you are from Ca). This too shall pass. As we get older sometimes we're just happy to finish the race. I have years when I just don't bother with competing - the joy is in the getting there for me, not always in the race. Let's hope you just plain old enjoy swimming, for swimming sake :)

Shrug the bad ones off. Just shrug 'em off. I would like to say I've been swimming for just a little while now (five years and change), and after about 50 meets ranging from "ALL HAIL THE GREAT ONE" to "lowest of the low crab louse," I've narrowed down the best bad performance management method to a simple shrug of the shoulders and a casting of the eyes to what's next, whether that's an upcoming race in a meet or a whole different meet altogether. Of course, as everyone else has said, still take a detached look at "what went wrong," so you can learn from mistakes and make changes, but that's a more intellectual adventure that should be done later in the evening with a journal or with a coach or friend. Don't let the emotion take you over. It's just a dark cloud in the sky, but you can make it float right over you a lot longer than necessary. For days or months, even. Best way to give that cloud a good windy gust? Shrug it off.

I had a masters coach who brought over her college team's mantra regarding meets: 1) Swim hard 2) Have fun 3) Make new friends If you can do all three at a meet, great! If not, accomplishing just one of them is also a victory. I had a meet years ago that I swam terribly at, but I have fond memories of the trip, because #2 was achieved. Now, granted, the having fun part consisted of all of us piling into a hotel room to eat Italian take-out and watch a movie, but it was a fun night, and it salvaged the entire trip for me. Also take note that #1 says "Swim hard" not "Swim fast". If you gave your races 100% effort, and didn't give up on them, you can consider each race to be little victories that can be built upon going forward.

My solution? Try some completely new events!In addition to the other great advice, let me second this suggestion by Elaine. I'd also highly recommend mixing up events at your end of season taper meet. The best thing that helped me get over my crappy 400 IM at Nationals on Friday morning was swimming the 200 back later that day, an event I rarely swim. Beyond the complete lack of pressure I felt in that 200 back, I didn't have this whole huge history of past performances weighing down my mind. While I do swim some of the world's greatest events (e.g., 400 IM and 200 fly) over and over at Nationals, I am almost always mixing in at least a couple of off events. Beyond giving me a chance to record some masters best times with comparative ease (e.g., I had never swum a 200 back tapered and shaved in a jammer), these 'secondary' events really take the pressure off.

How many meets did you swim in the last 2 years? Relatedly, how often have you swum those events in competition?

I had a masters coach who brought over her college team's mantra regarding meets: 1) Swim hard 2) Have fun 3) Make new friends If you can do all three at a meet, great! If not, accomplishing just one of them is also a victory. I had a meet years ago that I swam terribly at, but I have fond memories of the trip, because #2 was achieved. Now, granted, the having fun part consisted of all of us piling into a hotel room to eat Italian take-out and watch a movie, but it was a fun night, and it salvaged the entire trip for me. Also take note that #1 says "Swim hard" not "Swim fast". If you gave your races 100% effort, and didn't give up on them, you can consider each race to be little victories that can be built upon going forward. Listen to the advice of the blue one. The second and third one's are really key to getting over a bad meet. If you don't have friends or make new friends around you, you spend too much time thinking about the bad swim. Friends(new and old) help put a bad swim behind you really fast.

Friends(new and old) help put a bad swim behind you really fast. So true. I had a bad swim in Santa Clara on Saturday which was weighing pretty heavily on me. I left the meet that day quite disappointed. Fortunately, some simple words from a few USMS friends (with far more experience than I) via text message and Facebook made me realize it wasn't worth stressing over or worrying about.

First of all, thanks for the honest post! It's not easy to put it out there like that. But you are among friends. We have ALL been there at one time or another. I have learned, and admittedly have to relearn on occasion, that it is not your performance that determines you a failure or not. Instead it is how you react to it that defines you. Allow yourself to be disappointed, angry, sad, whatever it is you're feeling for a period of time. But then get up, brush yourself off, put on your big boy pants (or jammers) and get back in the pool. You have many many great swim performances ahead of you which you will squander if you don't get back at it. Don't rob yourself of those opportunities and feelings. I am just like you. When I swim well, I feel outstanding, probably too much so b/c a good swim shouldn't define me but I tend to let it anyway. I feel equally like crap when I don't swim well, but then I look for opportunities for improvement. Things I can do differently. and that frees me up to think positively again. The number one thing I have learned in the last few years is to relax and take the pressure off myself. I actually get excited to swim. Don't get me wrong, I'm still terrified when I approach the blocks but there's a part of me that is pulling me up anyway. It's like what my 7 year old daughter told me this weekend. I was nervous and nauseous and downright scared. I asked her how she deals with her butterflies "biting" her (how she describes it) when she plays soccer. She said straight up to me "just think of a picture of your family. I love you". Immediately, I know I have a thousand reasons to swim, only one of them is to swim faster than I ever have.

It's like what my 7 year old daughter told me this weekend. I was nervous and nauseous and downright scared. I asked her how she deals with her butterflies "biting" her (how she describes it) when she plays soccer. She said straight up to me "just think of a picture of your family. I love you". Immediately, I know I have a thousand reasons to swim, only one of them is to swim faster than I ever have. "Kids say the darndest things"