Swimming Leadership Part II: How Do You Lead?

"Finding Inspiration"

While the movie is not about swimming, one of the many poignant lessons I took home after watching Invictus is how to "inspire ourselves [and our teammates] to greatness when nothing less will do." Witness the conversation between two great South African leaders--Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar--and listen to their views on leadership and inspiring your teammates to be better than what they think they can be. 

"We Need Inspiration"

The Full Conversation of Two Great SA leaders.

Take Your Mark!

Finding God in Swimming

Religion is one of the few things which I simply do not have the patience or diligence to understand. Having been brought up a Roman Catholic and receiving a catholic education my entire life, I still find myself wrestling with certain aspects of my religion. While I am not entirely a devout man, I fervently  believe in God; every time I swim, I could feel His presence. 

Quoting Eric Liddell from the movie Chariots of Fire, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." Minus the running part, that is exactly how I feel. Whenever I swim fast, I can almost see God smiling with delight and glee. After all, He made a swimmer. It is only right that I glorify Him through the blessing which He has given me. Yet, I feel His presence and pleasure not just when I swim fast but rather when I am simply in the pool, swimming.

Whenever I push off the wall for a sprint-endurance set, the sound of rushing water filling my ears, I could hear Him whispering, telling me to swim faster and use every ounce of my strength to get my target times. During the split second wherein I am suspended in the air after launching myself off the starting block, the calm I feel is His presence slowly washing away the anxieties I feel and replacing them with competitive fire. When I am so fatigued in the 200 meters butterfly, I hear His soothing yet commanding voice telling me to hold on and continue fighting, tooth and nail, to reach the wall. Whenever I look over the time panels and find out that I did not get my best time, I can feel His comforting arm drape over my shoulders as if telling me that I need not be too hard on myself; I swam, fought and raced with every bit of grit I had and for Him that is already something to be proud of.

On more than one occasion, I have doubted my religion. In fact, with everything that is happening around my community, I am afraid that I am losing my religion. Yet, as I grapple with the doubts and reservations I have, my faith in God is adamant. He has been with me as I swam competitively for 12 years. I am sure that even after hanging up my LZR Racers and Fast Skins, He will always be with me, silently pushing me to keep on swimming fast or at least try to swim fast again.

Finding God in all things has been one of the lessons I learned way back in grade school which I have always carried with me. It is only appropriate that I found God in swimming.

Take Your Mark!

How to Win a Swimming Championship

The biggest frustration I ever had in my swimming career was not being able to hoist up a swimming championship in the UAAP seniors division the way I twice did in the juniors.  While the sweet second place my teammates and I landed in 2009 will be with me forever, winning that elusive championship could have been the pinnacle of my on-again, off-again relationship with swimming. But that is for another time. This entry will be about something else--something any swim team could find useful in their quest for aquatic supremacy. 

Winning a championship requires what I like to call "collective individualism" or in the words of my former coach, "team success through individual excellence". Simply put, every member of the team needs to work on being an exceptional swimmer in his own right to the very best of his abilities. Everyone needs to adapt a confident attitude which will foster this aura of being intimidating instead of being intimidated. Most of all, each and every member of the team needs to be confident in his own swimming prowess so that no one will be too reliant on the elite swimmers. 

But how does one do these things, you ask? Below are three points which may be helpful.

1. Train the way you compete.

The fault of many swimmers these days is that they tend to take the importance of training too lightly. It is quite disturbing that most swimmers resist pushing their limits whenever a set seems too difficult to accomplish. Instead of accepting a new challenge, they cower away and mediocrely swim the set just to finish it. Their excuse: there's always tomorrow...

Guys, there is no tomorrow--not if you want to be the best that you can be! Besides, there is no point in attending training if you do not have any intention of simulating how you will be competing. Why do we train, in the first place? We train because we want to get faster; the only way to get faster is by making fast-ness natural to us. What better venue to make ourselves naturally fast than practices--the place wherein we are allowed to make mistakes and test new techniques or stroke mechanics until we come close to perfect with regard to it.

Train the way you compete, fellas. Treat your trainings as an aquatic laboratory of sorts. Envision how you intend to compete and try it out when you train. If you plan on performing long underwater dolphins during the meet, do exactly that in every set of the training if it is applicable. If you plan executing a flip turn during the back-to-breast transition, practice that consistently. If you plan on using a track-start before you dive, track-start during training so that you are absolutely comfortable in that position come the meet. If you plan on wearing a swimming cap, by all mean, wear a swim cap in training!

As the age old saying goes, "practice makes perfect." The thing is, you have to ask yourself what it is your are perfecting in practice. Are you perfecting your slacker skills by cutting corners and taking it easy? Or are your honing your competitive skills by perfecting every aspect of your swim while training?

2. Swim while everyone else is resting!
While others rest, prepare. Need I say more?

One of the things I used to lament back then was how late my teammates started training seriously to prepare for the UAAP. I am honestly astounded that they expect to be in top form with only three to four months left before the meet that I almost scoffed at their misplaced confidence. While some of them actually do regain and surpass their peak performances with such a small window of preparation, most seem confused as to why they put up such disappointing borderline embarrassing times. Many a time I just kept my mouth shut; how could they be so obtuse to not know what they did wrong?

As I mentioned in one of my earlier articles, the competition does not start or end with the meet. Competition is 24/7! It is true that off-season trainings are not as intense as the ones during the season, they do serve a purpose of maintaining stroke integrity and keeping swimmers as fit as possible. I am not saying that you should continue the rough trainings; by all means, any swimmer is entitled to a well-deserved rest after a grueling season. What I am saying is that you might want to take advantage of this period to get ahead of the game, so to speak. Especially when you are playing catch up against competition which is faster and far more trained that you, use this downtime to close the distance separating you from the them.  

3. Fight (Swim) like a Champion!
We all remember the Pacquiao-Marquez fight a few weeks ago and how controversial the decision was. Regardless of how the pundits and would-be experts analyze the fight, the mere fact that the challenger was not at all challenging the champion was Marquez's downfall. Sure, he gave Pacquiao a hard time and might have even won the fight had me knocked him down once. But the fact is, he was not launching an all out assault on the champion. And he dare say that he ought to be champion when he was not acting like one?

Fellas, to be a champion you have to act like a champion and not just talk like one. Swim like a champion by being an aggressive competitor in training and in meets. Never back down from anything no matter how daunting workouts are or how fast your competitors are reputed to be. Challenge yourself and your teammates everyday to be the best swimmers that you can possibly be.

So you see, it all boils down to every member of the team doing his part exceptionally. In contrast to club swimming, varsity swimming is much more complicated since not everyone can just join a team and compete. There are certain academic requirements which have to be met for any athlete to be part of any team as most of us know well. Hence, varsity teams do not have the luxury of simply recruiting all the top talents and dominating the field since said talents need to prove their worth--and more importantly earn their keep--in the classrooms as well as the in the pool.

However, keep in mind that regardless of how the recruits fare academically, you can be certain that they will perform splendidly once they plunge in the pool and amass team points crucial for the championship. You ought to do the same, don't you think? 

Winning a championship in swimming starts with the swimmer. You and your teammates have to believe that you are more than capable of winning the championship. Beyond believing, you guys have to be willing to put in the requisite amount of work a champion is called to deliver. Believe adamantly and swim exceptionally--it is as simple as that.

Take Your Mark! 

5 Things Varsity Swimmers Need to Know & Understand

Ever since I entered college, I noticed that most swimmers younger than myself (as well as a certain number of senior swimmers) seemed to have developed amnesia with regard to the fundamental responsibilities of a swimmer. Well, amnesia may not be the right word to describe it since I do not think most of them were ever told that such responsibilities existed. But I did hope that they would have deduced such realities after a few years of swimming varsity. 

In either case, I think it is time that young swimmers are reminded of the things below. It would be such a pity if you guys do not put to memory and, more importantly, understand them. Trust me--these five things will help in the long run.

1. Not all the time should the Student come before the Athlete.

We have heard it all before in Coach Carter. "These kids are student-athletes. Student comes first," as Samuel L. Jackson eloquently phrased it. I am not disputing this. It is the obligation of every varsity swimmer--or athlete for that matter--to prioritize his education over his athletics. After all, turning professional is not an option for a Filipino swimmer for obvious reasons.

However, I have seen swimmers using the student-athlete excuse to chronically skip training. Kids, prioritizing academics over athletics does not mean forsaking your swimming obligations altogether. Prioritizing means striking a manageable balance between studying and swimming. The life of a student-athlete is hard to put it mildly. And while your coach, captain and/or teammates allow you certain latitude to skip training in order to study, please be reminded that you have voluntarily joined the team. Meaning to say, you accepted the difficult, complex and sacrifice-ridden life of a student-athlete in all its entirety; you embraced all of a varsity swimmer's responsibilities and obligations with open arms when you joined the team after passing try-outs. Let me stress it again; You joined to team voluntarily. No one forced or coerced you.

Except for certain unavoidable occasions, never use academics to skip team activities such as training and meets. Everyone, even the brightest, of your teammates is experiencing the same amount of difficulty you are going through so you have absolutely no right to complain or give excuses. And while you will have to skip athletic commitments for academic obligations, there will come a time wherein you ought to do the reverse. Whether it be cutting classes for meets, taking exams earlier or even load-reving from a class of the best teacher to the class of the terror teacher since the former coincides with training, you will have to see these through.

Boys and girls, sacrifices go both ways. So keep the student before the athlete alright; just do not be too uptight about it.

2. Listen to and RESPECT  your coach.

Integral to swimming success is your relationship with your coach and/or coaches. We all desire to have the perfect coach--one who is always understanding of our shortcomings and will never give sets we cannot accomplish. As lofty as such dreams are, we know that we rarely encounter such coaches. Often we get the composite coach--the combination of the dreaded one and the benevolent one in certain aspects of his personality. But of course, relationships with our coaches are dynamic.

In the team I came from, I am honestly astounded by how younger swimmers view our coaches. Most of the time, I had to restrain myself from coming down on numerous youngsters because their attitude  toward our coaches are downright disrespectful. While most of my teammates dismiss such attitudes as childish behaviors of, well, children, I cannot reconcile such things as gentlemanly, Atenean even. And let us not even begin to discuss the online social network bashing...

Guys, RESPECT ALL YOUR COACHES! You are allowed to have favorite coaches in as much as coaches are allowed to have favorite swimmers. That is a fact of any athlete's life. But respect your coaches indiscriminately nonetheless. You may not like them but you have to respect them, for their authority if not anything else. 

Keep in mind that your coaches (well most of them) only want what is best for you. They are hard on you because they believe that you can become a better person through sports.

Do not be scared if your coach comes down on you. Not too much anyway because that is a sign that he still wants to push you; that he still believes in you! Be scared when he ignores you completely. That is an indication of a total loss of confidence and trust. Believe me, I know.

However, if you really cannot swim for a coach you do not like and cannot bring yourself to respect in any way possible, find another one who you will swim for. There is nothing wrong about that. In fact, I highly recommend it. 

3. Never mind that no one watches your meets or even cares that you are a varsity swimmer.
Coming from a school whose administration, faculty and staff absolutely worships basketball and football as much as the student body, I understand completely why grade school, high school and college swimmers are very much frustrated when their achievements go unnoticed. Imagine swimming for your school for four grueling days trying to win a team championship by winning individual medals and breaking records without receiving so much as a thank you for your efforts regardless of the end result.  Would not you feel upset, frustrated even angry at that?  And when you hoist up your trophy at the end of the day, you do not even see the direct representatives of the student body--the varsity cheerleaders--because they are off at Araneta cheering for the basketball team full force. Get my point?  (For my opinions about the aforementioned, click Burst My Babble Part 1 and Burst My Babble Part 2)

In my years of swimming for my school, I have learned that while such a reality is dreadful, you are setting yourself for more than you can possibly imagine if you dwell on it too much. Lobby hard  and fight for the recognition you deserve and do it the right way. Other than that, just swim. Leave it out on the pool because at the end of the day, your achievements are only as important as what you make them regardless if your school recognizes your or not. 

For you grade schoolers, take it from me. Do not quit swimming to shift to the popular sports so that your peers will regard you as an athlete. You are an athlete, young man! And trust me, while your basketball batchmates bask in limelight now, their numbers will dwindle with every year level you progress since there are fewer and fewer leagues wherein basketball teams can play in high school and only the UAAP division in college. Only a few of them are good enough to make it to the UAAP Seniors Division so come college, the only league you will see these guys is the IAC (kind of like your Intrams in grade school). But if you stick it out with swimming, chances are you will still be enjoying the perks of a varsity member in college. (If you are wondering what some of the perks are, well, Ateneo College is co-ed!)

Here's another food for thought. While your basketball batchmates only play in one league be it PAYA, PRADA, PSBL and the like, you will be swimming in all of them! So technically, you are a member of at least two teams! How's that!

So keep swimming, young men. Keep staring at that emotionless black line and endure the proverbial chlorine-smell and tan lines. It will all be worth it in more ways that you will ever expect.

4. Competing does not start and end with the meet.
During my time as team captain for the college team, I cannot remember a time wherein I did not stress this. The competition does not start and end with the meet; it begins the moment you wake up everyday and will only end once you finally hang up your swimming gear. Competitive swimming is a consummate sport. The key to success is to keep swimming even when you are not swimming.

But how do you swim without swimming? Easy. By going the extra mile. Apply Magis in your sport! In my experiences, you accomplish a lot of your technique improvements and stroke corrections when you are not swimming. In every waking second, think about what will make you stronger, faster and better. Be as cerebral as you possibly can out of the pool because when you are racing, more often than not, your instincts take over. Also, take advantage of technology! Watch Youtube videos of the legends like Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, Ryan Lochte, Grant Hackett, Kosuke Kitajima and other elite swimmers to learn from them and see what you can possibly adapt.  

Guys, never believe anyone who tells you that you need only to defeat your opponents during competitions. That is a total misconception. While the goal is to defeat your opponents during meets, the only way to do so is by defeating him in every aspect of the sport. It is true that you do not control what your rivals do but regardless, make sure that your goal is to outwork him in training by acting as if you are already competing. Outsmart him by eating the right food. Overpower him by religiously attending gym and land training sessions before pool workouts. But as creative and as unorthodox as possible!

5. Enjoy every second of swimming; have as much fun as you can.
Enjoy swimming as much as you can, young ones. Swim every swim as if it is your last and enjoy the company of your teammates as much as you possibly can. As amazing as life is, it is also unforgivingly unpredictable. So love swimming, even if she plays hard-to-get.

A word of warning though. As much as I advocate having fun, please keep them in the proper perspective and in line. When it is time to get serious, do not fool around. Focus your attention at the task at hand and have fun afterward, once you and your teammates finish the set. Surviving hellacious sets are always fun and entertaining to look back on. Especially when one of your teammates is a sport when he is the butt of all the innocent ribbing and jokes!

Boys and girls, I hope that these five things are clear enough. If you have any questions or concerns, never hesitate to leave a comment!

Take Your Mark!

Regaining Aquatic Fitness

Any former competitive swimmer can attest to spending as much time away from the pool once their careers are over. Most, especially those who have been swimming ever since they had baby teeth, have become too sick of being tan and proverbially smelling like chlorine that they literally put their suits and gear in a cardboard box and stow them away in the deepest recesses of their closets. Who could blame them? For ten plus years, they have swam lap after lap after lap twice a day, seven days a week preparing for competitions almost every other weekend. While some are given renumeration for their hardwork--athletic-scholarships in high school or college--the monotony of swimming makes it difficult to constantly be loyal to its responsibilities and obligations. Fast-forward a few months after retiring, you look at the mirror and see the physical changes your body has made. Gone are the washboard abs, barrel chest, chiseled shoulders, bulging biceps and V-shaped body. Replacing them are the dreaded fats you never had to deal with only a few months before. Then, you realize that you are at a crossroads of sorts. You can continue rebelling from what you have done for so long and slowly watch your swimmer's body disappear or you can reconcile with your sport and work your way back into shape.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in the same situation. While I generally did not mind my muscles turning into fat and my "V-ody" slowly disappearing--after all, I was retired--I realized just how difficult my future would be if I continue my post-swimming career foolishness. Cutting the long story short, I realized the many health risks I was setting myself up for and decided right then and there to do something about it. Without thinking twice, I took out my gear and headed to the pool to do some laps and gauge my current physical condition. After that painful morning, I created my personal swim program which would more or less get me back into shape. After my first week of said program, I can honestly say that I am on the right track.

I do not want to divulge the specifics of my program but I will offer some advise which will help you craft your own program.

1. Know what you want and set your goal.

The last thing you want to do is to swim blind. Before you put on your suit and goggles, ask yourself what you are swimming for and why you are swimming again. Whether it is to lose weight, enjoy the water or mount a comeback to competitive swimming, the key is to know what you are after. When you do know it, set your goals. Be sure to make them SMART too (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, REALISTIC and TIME BOUND). Draw motivation from such goals because it is all on you this time around.

2. Remember what type of swimmer you were.

"Once a swimmer, always a swimmer," I always say. No matter how much you fight or run away from it, you will always be a swimmer. The sooner you embrace that fact, the faster you will regaining aquatic fitness. That said, remember the kind of swimmer that you were--in training and in competitions. Recall your strengths and weaknesses; were you more of kicker or a puller? Did you have excellent underwater techniques? Did you thrive breathing less or more? What was your stroke count in your specialty stroke or S1 and freestyle? 

If you kept a journal during your career, you might want to take it out and read through it to refresh your memory. Remembering what type of swimmer you were will help you determine what you need to work on which leads us to...

3. Gauge your current physical condition and reconcile it with what you used to do.

Before thinking of and putting your workout on paper, find out what type of condition you are in. Go to the pool and swim a normal competition style warm up. I suggest you do a 400-300-200-100 combination of swim-pull-kick-swim. After which, do some time trial sets for your 50 and 100 freestyle and S1. If you are daring, time your 100 and 200 IM as well. You will have a pretty good idea of where you are standing after that. 

While you swim, take note of the things you cannot do easily anymore. Once you dive in the pool, your movements are automatic no matter how much time you spend away. As automatic as some of your movements are, notice what you strain to do this time around. Be it your trunk rotation, catch, stroke recovery, tumble-turn or any specifics, keep them in mind. You will have to factor these in when you make your own workouts later.

4. Take it easy then work yourself up.


When I swam for the first time a couple of week ago, the worst mistake I made was thinking I could pick up where I left off. I knew from experience that I could not do that but the snob in me was too determined to convince myself that I was still capable of all the things I used to do. The result? Sore muscles all over and a pretty nasty headache.

No matter how much of an elite athlete you once were, keep in mind that you spent quite sometime away from the pool. As our coaches always said, even a day away from swimming makes it difficult to stay on track on the path to achieving your goals. What more if you are gone for more than a couple of months?

Take it easy your first time out. Get your comfort and water-feel back before even considering subjecting yourself to tough endurance and speed swims. Unless you are planning to jumpstart your path to competitive swimming, slowly and easy is the name of the game.

5. Do not shortchange yourself.


The difficulty about swimming alone--if you do train alone now--is that you rely solely on yourself. There is no coach to watch you on the pool deck nor do you have teammates to compete with or even have the comfort of someone suffering the same workout. That said, the temptations are greater. When you feel fatigue, an almost insatiable desire to no longer push yourself to finish the sets in. It will take great amounts of maturity and focus to rise above such temptations when you train alone.

The thing to remember is to never shortchange yourself. I will not tell you to cut down on your workouts; as a former athlete, you ought to understand well enough the consequences of such actions. But what I will tell you is to never settle for anything less than what you think and know you deserve. At the end of the day, the only fool you are kidding is yourself every time you give in to the temptation of slacking off. Which leads me to my last advice.

6. Always remember what you are swimming for.


Never forgot why you are swimming again and what you are swimming for this time around. Whether it be because you are mounting a comeback or losing a few pounds, always keep in mind your reasons every time you take the pool. Remember them especially when the temptation to quit is strong. It may be easier said than done but keep that fire alive and burning white-hot. That drive to accomplish whatever it is you set out to do will be your best friend during your quest to regain your aquatic fitness.

Keep track of your progress too. Write about it, keep it in mind, post it on your wall; do whatever it takes to record what you are going through. Trust me; this will be more helpful to you in more ways that you could possibly imagine during that long winding road to get back in shape.

I hope that this post can help all of you former swimmers wanting to return to the pool anytime soon. If you have any comments and suggestions about regaining that pool fitness, leave a comment and I'll get back at you as soon as I can.

On a personal note, I am on my second week of my own swimming program. It's been tough but I feel that I am on the right track. With the right amount of dedication, discipline and diligence, I think I will be able to make this work.

Take Your Mark!

Team USS: The First Member

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I might feature swimmers who are truly unsung swim stars. To be perfectly honest, I know a lot of swimmers who deserve the title more than I do (I just claimed it before anyone else did). After much debate, I have finally decided to feature someone who deserves recognition for his achievements! 

This student-athlete will be the first member of what I like to call Team Unsung Swim Stars or Team USS. Early next month, get to know this inaugural member and standout swimmer. Read about his swimming story, motivations and future goals. Learn his favorite swimming moment and what he aspires to be when he finally hangs up his suits. And, if he is willing to share them, discover things which he keeps personal. 

Check back in a couple of weeks to find out who the first member of Team USS is!

Take Your Mark!


To find out more about Team USS click on the properly labelled tab above or here.