This week my training has continued to increase again as it has been for the past few weeks. I’m starting to feel more like myself through my consistent training and levels hit in zone. This week I had my school swimming sports, this year was the first year I went into it with a mindset that wasn’t all about winning and trying to break records, meaning that if I didn’t hit those expectations I wouldn’t be down on myself.
With not being competitive through swimming for a year now and having a forced rest period through the holidays leading up to now my swimming isn’t at its peak and those old expectations cannot be made to be fulfilled as I haven’t done the training to be there.
I went into the swim sports knowing it was my final year and that I still had good chances of winning with my past experience over my age group and left it at that, not looking at records or comparing myself against others.
In the past 2 years I have been so close to breaking age group records that if there were proper timers it may have just been a record. Having all of these expectations put so much pressure on me. The fun of swim sports that is meant to be, had was washed away with me and my own head.
Knowing my circumstances I had the best swim sports day yet, I won all my races and competed against my swim coach which I had been waiting for my whole time through college, the smile I had at the end of the race despite him beating me couldn’t be wiped away.
Sometimes going into things can change the outcome completely, knowing where I was at and the circumstances I was in what I did let me be included in the whole school event completely.
– Jessica Bray