Getting Over a Bad Race

Competitive Swim | July 28, 2017

Bad races are bound to happen. Sometimes they are completely out of your control, even though you have trained day after day for this big day. You have woken up before the sun rises, you have put in time after school, and you have made goals and put in the work in order to achieve them. The inevitable happens. You fail. Now what?

Move Forward. Unfortunately you are unable to go back in time and change how you performed. Sure you can dwell on your performance and let it eat you up, but that will only leave you distraught. Do your best to put this behind you and move forward in your training.
Acknowledge it. Instead of letting it bother you, use that for fuel. What happened? What went wrong? Once you determine your trouble areas, you will be able to create a strategy accordingly. Do you need to work on your flips, your breathing, etc? Work on your weaknesses and make them your strengths.
No one is perfect.Everyone faces different troubles and failures at some point in their lives, it is how you overcome those that matter. One race will not make or break your entire year. It won’t take you back in progress. No one is perfect. As soon as you realize that everyone fails, the less you allow it to control you.