1. Stay focused on what you can control.
You’ll likely have interruptions in your routine. You likely will have an idea of who is going to be your competition. You know the times you want to achieve. Stay focused on the day to day. Concentrate on your technique and do every lap you’re supposed to do. Tapering especially must be done properly or you will not see the results that you want. Trust your coaches and do what you’re supposed to do.
2. Be responsible and take care of yourself.
This is the time of year can be difficult when the mental drain can be hard. Stay on top of your school work. Eat properly. SLEEP! Staying on top of all of these will help you reach your end of the season goals!
3. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Swimming is all about the goals you want to achieve. Whether its specific times or specific places when the practices become challenging and you start to feel like you don’t want to keep pushing you need to remember your goals. Everything you want to accomplish is so close. Keep pushing, you can do it!
4. Visualize… and attack
Before that big meet, you can start to get mental reps. Close your eyes and visualize the whole day from when you wake up and eat breakfast, to when you’re sitting at the ready benches, to each and every stroke the entire length of the race, and finally to the time you want to see on the board. These visualizations can go a long way in both keeping yourself calm during the meet and confident in achieving your goal.
Don’t lose focus now, all of that off-season work, conditioning over the last few months, early morning workouts and long practices are about to pay off. Control what you can control and finish strong!