Shouts from the Stands: You’re the Only Thing in Your Way

Thanks to Nicole Miller for contributing this story to our Shouts from the Stands series. SwimSwam welcomes reader submissions about all topics aquatic, and if it’s well-written and well-thought, we might just post it under our “Shouts from the Stands” series. We don’t necessarily endorse the content of the Shouts from the Stands posts, and the opinions remain those of their authors. If you have thoughts to share, please [email protected]. 

As an age group swimmer, I have gotten many injuries. Just when I aged up into the 13-14 age group, I managed to injure my shoulder at a not-too-severe level, but it got in the way of my swimming. In the same month, I was due to swim the 500 free in my team’s dual meet that would take place about 3 weeks later. I wasn’t afraid, it’s a race that’s done at least by everyone, right? Going into the race, I looked at the heat sheet, and my nerves started to creep up. I was seeded in a heat with girls who were all 10 seconds faster than me, and my shoulder wasn’t in its best shape. I instantly felt that failure was in my future.

When the race finally came, I looked at the girl next to me for even a flicker of hope, but I couldn’t find any positive thoughts in my head. All that was running through my mind was “you’re going to fail!” and “your shoulder won’t survive.” The step up onto the block felt like it was a thousand miles long. I could barely hear the words “take your mark” over the sound of my heartbeat. When I finally could hear the buzzer, I blasted off of the blocks. The first few strokes of the race felt amazing, but pain quickly overtook my shoulder. Reaching the wall after my first 50, I flipped only to find that the pad wasn’t secure in its place. After pushing off, I sunk to the bottom of the pool, any hope seemed to fade. I broke into a panic attack underwater, and my asthma started to take effect. Swimming with an injured shoulder, an asthma attack, and goggles filled with water, I forced myself to stop swimming. Pulling myself out of the pool, I finally realized what had happened: I let my nerves get the best of me.

Looking back on that day, I find myself in a land of regret. I shouldn’t have let my nerves overtake my swimming. The feeling of shame and anxiety was all that it took for me to give a good opportunity to swim against faster opponents away. Now, I wonder “What could I have done differently?” Besides scratching the entire race, I decided that I shouldn’t have gotten myself into the negative mindset that got my nerves rustled up. I focused too much on what my competition was doing to focus on myself and how I should have swum. From that point foward, I only looked at the positive sides of my swimming, like good technique, strong turns, or just giving my best overall effort. Going into every race now, I know that I can overcome any obstacle, and that nerves are just that. They’re just barriers that are set up in our minds to prevent us from doing our absolute best in everything that we do. By focusing on the positive elements of swimming, I’ve managed to reduce my nerves, and now they’re nothing but a little bump I’m the road that I know I can overcome. With a positive mindset, you can accomplish anything without your nerves getting in the way.