have been swimming year round since I was eight years old. I am now going to be a sophmore in college. I have lived and breathed swimming since I first started. My life revolved around swimming and only that. Through high school I gave up hanging with friends to go to swim practice. I never really was a great swimmer even though I worked super hard to be succesful. I did swim one year in college. I am completely burnt out and cant stand to go to swim meets and not be able to swim the times I did when I was 13-15. now 20. It kills me and after my freshman year and this summer I have made the decision to call it quits because I 'cant put my self through all this hard work to not see results and swimming just dosent make me happy. Am i making a huge mistake and what happens say a year from now when i miss swimming greatly? will it all be ok then? I was so sure on my decision but when other people dont support me like coaches and parents etc its hard. I just need some advice or encougagement!
thanks!
swimkswim,
I think it's safe to say that practically all competitive swimmers who have 'given it their all' go through periods of burn out. Like some of the stories above, I reached that stage at end of my junior year in college, 1988. I was swimming Division I on a partial scholarship and had the twin goals of making both NCAAs and then Trials. I had been a hard core distance swimmer since probably age 11 or 12 and had been doing serious yardage probably since I was 13. Though my 500 time had improved a few seconds in college, I wasn't able to match my 1500/1650 time from when I was 16/17 years old. I swam like crap at the conference championships that year and left that meet firmly committed to hang up my suit and party my last year of college like a 'real' student (not a 'student athlete'). I had the conversation with my parents, but was a bit afraid of discussing it with my coach. My parents weren't happy but understood (my dad had swum in college, as well). However, they really encouraged me to talk with my coach.
This was the best decision for me. My coach was completely understanding, but offered up a suggestion that kept me in the pool. As I was planning on staying at college during the summer anyways, he suggested that I move training groups for the summer and train with the IMers. That might not seem like a huge difference, but the variety that it brought, both in terms of the different sets/strokes and the different people I trained with, was incredible. Don't get me wrong: the workouts were still quite hard, but in a completely different way than the longer mileage workouts I had been doing for years. I ended up having great swims that summer in both the 400 IM and 400 free and went on to have a hugely satisfying and faster senior year. (I still never matched the mile times from my younger years, but my 500 & 400 IM continued to get faster). As I reflect upon this now 20 years later, I'm not sure if I would've come back to swimming through Master's had I left on a 'down note.'
Your coach might not be receptive to it (hopefully, he/she will). If not and you still want to swim, join a master's team, try triathlons, do some open water swimming, or just take time off. The great thing I've found out since coming back to Master's is that you are no longer 'tied' to doing specific events or training regimens. Mixing it up keeps it interesting.
swimkswim,
I think it's safe to say that practically all competitive swimmers who have 'given it their all' go through periods of burn out. Like some of the stories above, I reached that stage at end of my junior year in college, 1988. I was swimming Division I on a partial scholarship and had the twin goals of making both NCAAs and then Trials. I had been a hard core distance swimmer since probably age 11 or 12 and had been doing serious yardage probably since I was 13. Though my 500 time had improved a few seconds in college, I wasn't able to match my 1500/1650 time from when I was 16/17 years old. I swam like crap at the conference championships that year and left that meet firmly committed to hang up my suit and party my last year of college like a 'real' student (not a 'student athlete'). I had the conversation with my parents, but was a bit afraid of discussing it with my coach. My parents weren't happy but understood (my dad had swum in college, as well). However, they really encouraged me to talk with my coach.
This was the best decision for me. My coach was completely understanding, but offered up a suggestion that kept me in the pool. As I was planning on staying at college during the summer anyways, he suggested that I move training groups for the summer and train with the IMers. That might not seem like a huge difference, but the variety that it brought, both in terms of the different sets/strokes and the different people I trained with, was incredible. Don't get me wrong: the workouts were still quite hard, but in a completely different way than the longer mileage workouts I had been doing for years. I ended up having great swims that summer in both the 400 IM and 400 free and went on to have a hugely satisfying and faster senior year. (I still never matched the mile times from my younger years, but my 500 & 400 IM continued to get faster). As I reflect upon this now 20 years later, I'm not sure if I would've come back to swimming through Master's had I left on a 'down note.'
Your coach might not be receptive to it (hopefully, he/she will). If not and you still want to swim, join a master's team, try triathlons, do some open water swimming, or just take time off. The great thing I've found out since coming back to Master's is that you are no longer 'tied' to doing specific events or training regimens. Mixing it up keeps it interesting.
