Part 5 - Putting It All Together and Going For It

When done well, swimming looks easy. But in reality, swimming is complicated. There are parts and pieces that need to work together and compliment each other to move you forward. In my book, Developing Swimmers, it gives a better insight of what swimming actually is. "There is a lot that has to happen just right and at just the right times. All the body parts are working at the same time, the body is suspended sideways in a liquid while everything is happening, and the muscles are getting fatigued--so each movement becomes progressively harder" (Brooks 75). To win, you need to train. To train, you need commitment, and to have commitment, you need to want it. If you want it bad enough and put in the work, every part of a stroke will slide into place and you will accomplish your goal. This can apply to anything, everyone knows this. If you don't need to work for it, then you shouldn't be doing it.

Some tips for racing that Brooks mentions includes (187):

• Be aggressive. Swimmers must give themselves a chance to do something special. 
• Make a move in the third quarter. Almost everyone lets up during the third quarter of a race; if a swimmer speeds up when everyone else slows down, he can take over a race.
• Use the walls. Speed in, speed out. Walls are a place for picking up speed, not for taking a break
• Manage breathing patterns, Swimmers should breathe more at the beginning so they can breathe less at the end.
• Fight fatigue with focus. Almost everyone looks good the first 25 meters of a race, but fewer do the last 25. Swimmers should focus on keeping the stroke long, smooth, and powerful at the end of the race.

When setting a goal in something you love and working hard to achieve it, and then achieving it, is one of the best things in the world. Swimming is something I love, and I try to get the best I can in it.

Me and friends at a meet

So, what is something you love doing and what do you do to become better in it?

Citation: Brooks, Michael. Developing Swimmers. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2011. Print.