Every once in awhile a serious thought does cross through the porpoise mind and one did indeed occur today. Recently I have done some pool meets. I suppose it is classified as racing though at my speed relative to the competition it may really only be considered "taking part" since I did not give much competition to the others on the blocks. But I showed up and once on the blocks the others didn't have a clue as to how fast I was so they probably got a little nervous just because I was there.
My experience in "competing" in the water has really only been mostly in the open water events and there for me, finishing is always a victory. Every time I enter the water in an open water competition I look to the heavens and say a little prayer... "Please just let me finish. Please do not make me have to be pulled out of here by a boat." And then of course there is the secondary prayer of "Please do not make me last." But last actually is quite fine as long as I finish. Open water is a "horse of a different color" and sometimes last is a magnificent accomplishment!
I do not believe I have ever finished first in a race in the water. I don't believe I can remember when I have, truly. It is easy to say, "Well, I was just born slow," but I have never been able to accept that. I believe that everyone can improve their performance with hard work and determination. You might not finish first but you will finish in less time than the last time you took to the water.
And that brings up the serious thought that passed through my mind today. What exactly is the point of a meet anyway? Is it to take home a trophy and if you don't, is it a tragedy? No, I think it goes back to the whole basis for sport and competition. It is important to show up and do your best. You might finish last but was it the very best you could give and was it the very best time that you could have clocked given all of the circumstances? That is the point in my mind.
Recently I did my first 400 meter competitive swim. I was a minute and a half behind the winner and really I could see that I was a lap and a half behind the woman in the lane next to me. All this did was make me try to swim faster.
When I saw her red square appear as I was just heading for my lap 17 I thought, "Oh no, this is really bad, expletive deleted..." So I tried to step it up a notch. I came in dead last but I was absolutely thrilled because I had swum what for me was an outstanding race and I had really put everything together in a way that I did not think was possible. In fact, I remember thinking, "I do hope I don't kill myself with this swim....."
My experience in "competing" in the water has really only been mostly in the open water events and there for me, finishing is always a victory. Every time I enter the water in an open water competition I look to the heavens and say a little prayer... "Please just let me finish. Please do not make me have to be pulled out of here by a boat." And then of course there is the secondary prayer of "Please do not make me last." But last actually is quite fine as long as I finish. Open water is a "horse of a different color" and sometimes last is a magnificent accomplishment!
I do not believe I have ever finished first in a race in the water. I don't believe I can remember when I have, truly. It is easy to say, "Well, I was just born slow," but I have never been able to accept that. I believe that everyone can improve their performance with hard work and determination. You might not finish first but you will finish in less time than the last time you took to the water.
And that brings up the serious thought that passed through my mind today. What exactly is the point of a meet anyway? Is it to take home a trophy and if you don't, is it a tragedy? No, I think it goes back to the whole basis for sport and competition. It is important to show up and do your best. You might finish last but was it the very best you could give and was it the very best time that you could have clocked given all of the circumstances? That is the point in my mind.
Recently I did my first 400 meter competitive swim. I was a minute and a half behind the winner and really I could see that I was a lap and a half behind the woman in the lane next to me. All this did was make me try to swim faster.
When I saw her red square appear as I was just heading for my lap 17 I thought, "Oh no, this is really bad, expletive deleted..." So I tried to step it up a notch. I came in dead last but I was absolutely thrilled because I had swum what for me was an outstanding race and I had really put everything together in a way that I did not think was possible. In fact, I remember thinking, "I do hope I don't kill myself with this swim....."
But back to the point. Doing your very best effort is what this meet stuff is about. That race was a personal best and it was a hard race that I put everything I had into. I rose to the occasion and I met the challenge. That for me was a victory.
I used to be a pretty good runner and I will never be in the same league swimming that I was running. But even now I know when I step up on a treadmill I can never be the runner that I once was. Time and injury have seen to that. But swimmin and swimming in a meet allows me to channel my competitive energy positively. It "gives me game." We all have game. It is the heart of sport. It is what makes us go out and compete and strive to win even when we know we don't have a chance in a million.
I used to be a pretty good runner and I will never be in the same league swimming that I was running. But even now I know when I step up on a treadmill I can never be the runner that I once was. Time and injury have seen to that. But swimmin and swimming in a meet allows me to channel my competitive energy positively. It "gives me game." We all have game. It is the heart of sport. It is what makes us go out and compete and strive to win even when we know we don't have a chance in a million.
I go to meets to "keep my game." I go for the adrenalin. I go for the day in the sun. I go because my best competition is myself. And every once in awhile I get a ribbon. And every once in awhile I know when I have put everything I had into something and I have gone faster than I had imagined. And that is what swimming in meets is all about. So, babes, as they say in Nikeland... Just do it. (:
1 comment:
Very good perspective.
PS: you might swim to have a good time, but i swim to beat you! ;-) :-D
bubbles.
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