I've been swimming competitively since the age of 8, and I've had the same issue for nearly as long. I swim pretty fast in workouts and while training, but when I go to swim meets, my performance is pretty lackluster.
I avoided swimming in a meet until just recently, where the coach guess entry times, and thought mine would be faster than they would. The people who swim in my lane during practice all swim 5-10 seconds faster (in sprints & mid-distance) than I do in a swim meet.
This happens regardless of how in shape I am. And happens less often in distance events than sprints, which makes me wonder if I just have a switch turned off in my brain that should make me really "work it" when I'm in competition.
Any advice? :confused:
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Former Member
I'm very much the same way. Mental preparation before a race is definitely a huge deal, and really focusing on that has helped me a lot. I try to take 10 or 15 minutes before a race to listen to music, close my eyes, and really focus on my race. Visualizing the race can be useful, and sometimes it helps to just get a good, upbeat song stuck in my head.
It can be really frustrating to get beat by swimmers that you routinely beat in practice, but try to ignore them and set individual goals for yourself, like setting a PR or focusing on your breakouts.
Cheers!
I'm very much the same way. Mental preparation before a race is definitely a huge deal, and really focusing on that has helped me a lot. I try to take 10 or 15 minutes before a race to listen to music, close my eyes, and really focus on my race. Visualizing the race can be useful, and sometimes it helps to just get a good, upbeat song stuck in my head.
It can be really frustrating to get beat by swimmers that you routinely beat in practice, but try to ignore them and set individual goals for yourself, like setting a PR or focusing on your breakouts.
Cheers!
