So I'm getting back into swimming, hoping to join my university's team in the fall.
Which means competing again. Yikes.
Even as an agegrouper I always had an issue with nerves during and before competition (not so much when I was actually in the water, I was relatively able to focus WHILE swimming, but sometimes getting there was torture.)
So for those of you who still compete, or have competed, how do you deal with nerves during a meet, and especially right before your event? Do you have certain things you do to relax, or ways to calm yourself down? I can't keep letting myself get so paralyzed by fear.
Parents
Former Member
I've never really had a problem with nerves, but when I competed I would try to focus on something else between races. I'd always have my walkman plugged in (I suppose now I would use an iPod), letting myself relax. In the race, I always found that I would swim better if I didn't think too much about what I was doing. Since I mostly swam distance (400 IM, 500 and 1650); I'd get a good song stuck in my head...
I've never really had a problem with nerves, but when I competed I would try to focus on something else between races. I'd always have my walkman plugged in (I suppose now I would use an iPod), letting myself relax. In the race, I always found that I would swim better if I didn't think too much about what I was doing. Since I mostly swam distance (400 IM, 500 and 1650); I'd get a good song stuck in my head...
