To my swimmers,
I address this to ‘my swimmers’ out of mere convenience of the word ‘swimmers’ and because you know exactly who you are. However, I am writing to tell you the exact opposite. You are NOT swimmers. I’ve told you this time and time again, but I want it to stick and if out of all the workouts I have challenged you with, all of the stories I’ve told you, all of the laughs we’ve shared, if you only remember one thing I want it to be this.
Why? Because YOU ARE NOT SWIMMERS. You are people who swim. Individuals who thrive, who push themselves beyond their limits, who inspire their teammates to train harder and their friends to aim higher, who put incessant smiles on their coaches faces due to your infectious personalities that radiate with joy, this is who you are… and much, much more.
I used to be a swimmer. I believed it with every bone in my body that this is who I was and I was OK with that. When I stopped swimming I would say that, “I was a swimmer”, but now I say, “I used to swim”. This is because you have all taught me something invaluable that I didn’t notice when I was a ‘swimmer’. I used to think that swimming shaped me, which to a degree is true. I had so much to thank the sport for. It taught me to overcome obstacles, that I could accomplish way more than I ever thought myself capable of, it taught me to work hard, to be insanely efficient with time management, it gave me lifelong friends, made my positive attitude reach new heights, and again, much, much more.
Thanks to all of you, I know that is not true. My perspective has changed being on the other side as a coach as opposed to a ‘swimmer’. Swimming did not give me all of these things, but the opportunity to embrace these aspects in myself. The opportunity to leave the pool absolutely exhausted feeling like a complete badass for crushing an awful set our coach wrote, the opportunity to see myself succeed on different levels of competition, the opportunity to pick myself up after a failure. Swimming is a tough sport, not just due to the physical part, but because it can mentally try to break you down. We are constantly threatened by a stare presenting itself as a black line on the bottom of the pool telling us to give up, but we don’t let it. We don’t let it because we have people surrounding us who share common goals that want us to succeed as much as we want them to. We don’t let it because we love that feeling of finishing a tough session, of touching the wall after a race and letting our mouths gape open at the sight of that time that was significantly faster than we expected, and to shove our faces with food along with our teammates after practice.
Remember, swimming didn’t give you any of this or your work ethic, your optimism, or your teammates who eventually become your friends who inevitably turn into family. No. It allowed you to do these things and you decided to take the chance to embrace and enhance this inner beauty of yours.
The following pictures (unfortunately not the best quality because I took a picture of a picture) show my Tävling 1 group. I think it sums up their relationship well. They have been through a lot, but they pulled through. I was fortunate enough to watch them grow in improving their attitudes and recognizing their abilities this last year and a half. Let me tell you, this feeling is equivalent to the sensation of finally beating a best time that you’ve had for several years. It’s utter happiness watching people you care about realize their true worth.
I love these pictures. The top one shows their personalities and goofiness while the bottom one is most of us at paintball (me and my assistant coach were in for a surprise when they took us here). The whole experience with this bottom picture describes perfectly the relationship fellow swimmers share. The staff member taking the picture told us to say, ‘paintball’. It makes sense considering the activity, but not for capturing smiles. It’s safe to say that not a single one of us looks good in this photo. It’s actually pretty bad which is what makes it so special and is why I love it. Here we are all happy, but all looking far from flattering. Yet when we saw of it we all reacted the same, we laughed. We laughed because we’re comfortable with each other and don’t expect perfection from each other.
When you swim, these are the people you surround yourself with. People with the same goals that you want to motivate each other to reach (but no way are they going to beat you without a fight!) and they see you at your absolute best and your absolute worst. They see you broken down and crying, they see you screaming and fighting and complaining. However, they see you build yourself up again, they show you support when you’re the one broken down and miserable, they see you red in the face from working hard, and you share deep conversations about life and your sport. They see you more amazing than other people can, even if they spend a ton of time with you. This picture reminds me of that. The way we laughed when we realized we all looked far from our best, but we embraced it and loved it. From all of these things you are granted another opportunity to create a family and I love the family this group has made of themselves. I luckily already see it forming in my younger group as well.
To all of my swimmers, both who have decided that your swimming days are over and for those of you who have several years to continue, I have some wishes for you and requests.
- Never hold back, especially in bad situations. Situations you think you can’t get through, situations where people seem not to care what you’re doing. Don’t let these people determine how you work, never let them make you feel like you don’t matter, you deserve much more than that. There will be much tougher times in your future, don’t let them get you down. Take what you learned through swimming and know that you can persevere.
- When people ask about you or you have an icebreaker activity that tells you to state an interesting fact about yourself, don’t say, “I like to swim” or “I’m a swimmer.” Say something that describes you better. Something like, “I like overcoming challenges,” or “I try to be positive when everybody is negative.” This is more you. Then brag about your swimming because let’s be real, it’s the best and most beautiful opportunity we’ve all been given. Even if we question why we do it at times.
- I wish for you to travel as much as possible. I want you to tell people about yourself, your experiences, what you’ve overcome. I want you to learn more from these people like you did from swimming, I want your eyes opened even more from seeing the world, and I hope you realize how much you are teaching these other travelers from just being you. The you that strives to be your best, that dares to accept challenges, and that translated so many amazing characteristics about yourself from swimming into the real world.
My swimmers, you are beyond wonderful. I thank you for not only teaching me what swimming is truly about, but for filling my void for swimming (it was not an easy thing for me to just stop) and for countless cherished memories. Even if some of them include you singing Peek a Boo and dancing around me in an attempt to get a reaction out of me or laughing at my terrible pronunciation when I try to speak Swedish.
I have enjoyed this last year and a half so much with you. I loved being on the pool deck watching you grow, seeing the weird things you do to each other when you think I’m not looking, and celebrating with you after you have achieved your goals or surprised yourself. I might have written workouts on the board and had many discussions with you, but it was you who put the hard work in and made the decision to be positive.
Again, thank you. Thank you to my A1 group for being so strange all the time. You let your personalities shine, you include everyone, and immediately make me break out in a smile every day. Thank you for giving me a necklace that says “Hope” which I think is so appropriate. May you never give up hope on your own goals and I hope to keep in contact with you all throughout the years. Thank you Tävling 1 for teaching me how much you can grow in a short period of time and for always surprising me with your creativity and selflessness. Thank you to all those I coached with landtraining. Thank you for your hard work that inspires me, for having patience with me when I explain something in a confusing manner, and for making my job that much more exciting because of your amazing energy. I cannot say enough how wonderful you all are, please remember that and I cannot express enough how valuable you each are.
Tack så jättemycket mina simmare och jag älskar er mycket!