Habits for Success by G. Brian Benson

Author:G. Brian Benson [Benson, G. Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633538672
Publisher: Mango Media
Published: 2018-10-25T05:53:11+00:00

I want to share a personal example. After having made it through my first two years of racing in triathlons, I knew that I enjoyed it immensely and that it gave me a lot of confidence and pride. I still wanted to improve though. I was working as a lifeguard at Oregon State University and noticed the women’s swim team come in one time following a class I watched over. That got me thinking. I felt that while I was an ok swimmer I knew that my swimming could stand some improvement. I had heard that the women’s team was a funded university sport and I found out that they also had a men’s swim club that wasn’t. It was participant funded. I then began to wonder who was on the men’s team and could anyone join? After some inquiries, I realized that anyone could join. I knew right then and there that was my answer to become a better swimmer; I joined. I didn’t really know at the time what I was getting myself into. My triathlon swim training basically consisted of me jumping in the pool and swimming lap after lap. Maybe I would throw in some kickboard work. That was about it.

That was all about to change very quickly at swim practice. Everybody who was on the team had been a very proficient swimmer in high school and was quite fast and talented. Here I was, someone whose swim career consisted of a handful of triathlons and some summer swim lessons as a youth. I was terrified. Luckily for me the coach of the team was a supportive and wise man who had been coaching for a very long time. He understood where I was coming from and welcomed me.

No more jumping in the pool and swimming lap after lap for me. It was time for lung burning intervals and trying swim strokes which I had never attempted before. That first day while struggling my way through practice, I really began to wonder what I got myself into. Although quitting was an option that I honestly did think about, I decided to go again the next day. The routine was the same, lung-busting interval after lung-busting interval, but I began to realize that I could handle it. Sure I was the slowest swimmer there, but I knew that I could handle it. I also began to realize that there was no way I couldn’t get faster if I stuck with this. So that is what I did. Although practices were always tough, I began to get faster and more confident day after day. It was a wonderful feeling indeed. I even went on road trips with them to swim meets and competed in the freestyle events (that was the stroke used for triathlon). Although I got my butt kicked in the meets by all the experienced swimmers, it was exhilarating and a lot of fun being a part of the team. The next summer during triathlon race season, I turned in some great swim times, which felt really good.

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