Over the years I've grown gradually less and less enthusiastic about swimming. It's gotten to the point that I dread every swim practice. I just find swimming so stressful, hard, painful, and discouraging. I used to be pretty decent at swimming, but have only plateaued. I don't think this is the only reason why I dislike swimming so much though. It's more of the physical pain that each practice causes. I don't even want to try that hard anymore. When I see the main set, I feel a cold, immobilizing slab of ice just slide down my insides and am utterly numbed.
People always tell me that swimming's for you. That you need to try, and what you put in is what you get out. These supposedly encouraging statements are all founded on the assumption that I have some desire to excel at swimming. True, I do like succeeding, but I just don't want to have to undergo the physical torture to reach it. Further, I hear a lot about the satisfaction you get after practices, and how your self-confidence increases when you finish a hard set. It takes all the self-discipline I have to avoid scoffing out loud at these. Very rarely do I receive that sort of "satisfaction". More often, I just feel a profound sense of relief that I finished the practice, only to be replaced by dread that I have 24 hours until the next session, and then the cycle restarts itself. As for the "get out what you put in" statement, I find it perfectly ridiculous. I feel no incentive to put myself through practice to succeed. A few years ago, before I started hating swimming, I busted my gut at every practice. The result? The same or worse times. I watched as kids who cheated in practice and never dropped continuously. Even if hard work actually leads to better times, I still wouldn't want to swim. I just don't feel like anything I could get out ofswimming is enough to assuage my growing dislike of swimming.
Nothing has really helped stem my lessening interest in swimming. I switched teams, and that helped for a while, but then I sank back down to even lower depths of dread. Despite all this, I still want to learn to love swimming again. After all, I have toswim to keep fit (and my parents are adamant that I continue it), and I might as well like it if I have to do it.
How do I overcome this?
After all, I have toswim to keep fit (and my parents are adamant that I continue it), and I might as well like it if I have to do it.
Based on this I assume you are a live at home teen, so my advice is somewhat different then advice for a 25-40 year old swimmer.
My suggestion is that if you now hate swimming, then stop swimming. You need to have a frank emotionless conversation with your parents and let them know how you feel and find another path to keep fit. Something along the line of “Mom and dad I’m really burned out with swimming and dread going to practice. But I realize that fitness and team sports are important to my development, so I would like to try ____ (tennis, volleyball, soccer, track…).” Maybe your parent’s determination is more about your involvement in healthy activities and less specifically about swimming. Give another sport a try or get involved in community activities.
“How do I overcome this?” Asking the question is a great first step. You usually don’t overcome this by just pushing harder. If you do stick with swimming then find aspects of swimming that you like and focus your goals around them. Figure out what’s important to you and work with your coach to set goals in that direction. If you like the people you swim with them work on deepening your friendship with them. If you like helping others see if there are opportunities to help coach a summer league team. If you don’t like racing the clock in competition then don’t set goals around improving your times and focus on cheering for and encouraging your teammates.
And if you do step away from swimming for some time, then maybe in a few months or years you may decide to try again. Then when you come back refreshed you may fall in love with swimming again.
After all, I have toswim to keep fit (and my parents are adamant that I continue it), and I might as well like it if I have to do it.
Based on this I assume you are a live at home teen, so my advice is somewhat different then advice for a 25-40 year old swimmer.
My suggestion is that if you now hate swimming, then stop swimming. You need to have a frank emotionless conversation with your parents and let them know how you feel and find another path to keep fit. Something along the line of “Mom and dad I’m really burned out with swimming and dread going to practice. But I realize that fitness and team sports are important to my development, so I would like to try ____ (tennis, volleyball, soccer, track…).” Maybe your parent’s determination is more about your involvement in healthy activities and less specifically about swimming. Give another sport a try or get involved in community activities.
“How do I overcome this?” Asking the question is a great first step. You usually don’t overcome this by just pushing harder. If you do stick with swimming then find aspects of swimming that you like and focus your goals around them. Figure out what’s important to you and work with your coach to set goals in that direction. If you like the people you swim with them work on deepening your friendship with them. If you like helping others see if there are opportunities to help coach a summer league team. If you don’t like racing the clock in competition then don’t set goals around improving your times and focus on cheering for and encouraging your teammates.
And if you do step away from swimming for some time, then maybe in a few months or years you may decide to try again. Then when you come back refreshed you may fall in love with swimming again.
