How do I get better (我如何做得更好）

小臭贝

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week is an excerpt from the November-December 2003 issue of Splash magazine, in which Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Rowdy Gaines answers the question, “How do I get better?” Here, Gaines offers some advice for working on the mental side of swimming.
本周的Speedo贴士节选自2003年11~12月份Splash杂志。本期杂志中奥运冠军和前世界纪录保持者罗迪盖恩斯回答了关于“我如何做的更好”的问题。这里，盖恩斯讲述了一些如何进行游泳精神方面的建议。

Gaines’ advice:
盖恩斯的建议：

Surround yourself with positive thinkers. The more negativity surrounding your space, the more likely it will affect you. My coach, Richard Quick, a five-time Olympic coach, would not allow us to use the “nt” words – can’t, don’t, won’t, etc. All those words have a negative connotation.
你的周围应该充满一些具有建设性的思想家。你周围的批评家越多，你受到的影响就越大。我的教练理查德快克---五次的奥运教练经历---它不允许我们使用“不”这个词：像不能、不可以、不想等等。因为这些词都会给你带来负面的影响。

Keep a positive attitude. Believe me, this is not easy. There were many times I did not want to wake up for that 5:30 morning practice, but these are natural feelings that you must accept and move on. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people just like me who had the same goals I had. They were also waking up at the crack of dawn to work out. It helped to know I was not the only one, and if I did miss it, that only meant I fell behind.
一定要维持一个正面的态度。相信我，这个并不容易做到！很多时候的早晨五点半，我非常不想起来进行晨练，这些是人之常情，但你还是要起来继续。应该说会有成百上千的人和我有相同的目标，他们闻鸡起舞，努力训练，我并非唯一，我也不能自欺欺人的认为我是唯一这么努力的人。

Communicate with your parents, coaches and teammates about what your thoughts are and how your training process is going. You do not have to be an island. So many people think of swimming as an individual sport, and in some ways, it is. But I think it is much more of a team sport than some ever realize. I won three gold medals. I gave one to my mom, one to my dad and one to my coach because I know in my heart I could not have won those medals without their love and support. We did it as a team. I wish I could have won 48 gold medals – one for each of my Olympic teammates – because they were a huge part of my success as well. But you must communicate with this potential support network of if they are going to be an asset.
好好的和你的父母、教练和队友沟通一下你的想法、你训练的进程等等，你不应该成为一个孤岛。很多人认为游泳是一个个人的项目：在某种程度上，确实是！但我却认为，游泳仍然是一个需要团队协作的项目！我获得三块金牌，一块我给了妈妈，一块给了爸爸，还有一块我给了我的教练！因为我知道，如果没有他们的爱和支持，我不可能得到这个成绩！我们像一个团队一样协作，我希望我能或者48面金牌---每个队友一面---他们同样也是我成功的一个重要方面：你应该好好的利用这些潜在的帮助，那样他们将成为你游泳的资产。

Be consistent in your emotions. Don’t get too high after a great race, and don’t beat yourself up after losing one either. The champions I know from swimming are the ones who can live through the peaks and valleys. Life is like a roller coaster, and so is swimming. There are good days and bad days, and if you accept that part of the sport, you will not only become a better person but a better swimmer as well.
尽可能地维持你精神状态的平和，不要因为一次好的比赛而过于兴奋，也不要因为一次的失败而沮丧。我所知道的那些游泳冠军们，他们都能淡看每次的波峰和波谷。生活就像滑坡铁轨，游泳也是！总是有好的日子，但也有不好的日子，如果你能淡然接受你运动生涯中的峰谷，你不单单会成为一个好的人，同样也能成为一位好的游泳运动员。

How do I get better? Part 2 (我如何做得更好 II)
This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week is an excerpt from the November-December 2003 issue of Splash magazine, in which Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Rowdy Gaines answers the question, “How do I get better?” Here, Gaines offers some overall advice for swimming success.
本周的Speedo小贴士来自Splash杂志2003年11~12月份的一个节选，讲述的是奥运冠军获得者和前世界纪录保持者罗迪盖恩斯回答关于“我如何做的更好”的相关内容。这里盖恩斯给出了一些总体上的建议。

Gaines’ Tip:
盖恩斯的贴士

I believe we swim for two major reasons – 1) TO SWIM FAST!!! and 2) TO HAVE FUN!!! And the amazing thing is, these reasons are so intertwined. There is no way you will ever be able to swim fast unless you enjoy the sport, and I don’t think you will have much fun in the long run unless you see some success. But you’ve got to remember that success is measured in so many different ways.
关于游泳，我相信大家有两个理由：1）游的更快！！！2）游泳的快乐！！！让人惊奇的事情是，这些理由是互相关联的：事实上，如果你不喜欢这项运动，那你永远不可能游得快！同时我还认为，除非你看到某些成功，否则你不会感到多少快乐可言。不过你也应该明白，成功地尺度并非只有一把。

To tell you the truth, I remember so many things about my swimming career, but I couldn’t tell you my best times in my events. I do remember the friends I made, the travel that was so much fun, the high school bus trips to meets, the shave-down parties and the many values the sport taught me.
实际上对我来说，我记得我游泳生涯中的很多事情，但我却无法告诉你我的赛事辉煌的时候；但我却能记得我交的一些朋友：旅行变得更有生气，高校校车上学时的相遇，甚至于一些聚会上……运动起始也教会了我很多东西！

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to be successful, and I constantly looked for ways to become a better swimmer. But I guess the things I just mentioned helped make swimming fun, and that was a huge key to my success.
我没有错，我期盼成功，我一直在寻找能够让我更成功的游泳选手的方法。但我认为我上面所说的能够让游泳更有兴趣，这是我成功的一个巨大的助益。

My experience in being around the sport for so long tells me the best swimmers in the world are the ones who enjoy it the most. Michael Phelps is a swimmer that comes along once every generation and will make a ton of money in his career, but if you ask him why he is so good, he will tell you that he has a passion for what he does.
我在运动领域长期的经验告诉我，那些世界上游得最好的游泳选手，他们无一不对游泳充满激情。菲尔普斯是这个年代绝无仅有的巨星，他也将会在他的职业生涯中挣到数不清的钱，但你如果问他为什么能做的这么好，他一定会告诉你他对他从事的事业充满激情。

There are two paths you can follow in your life – one is to be a leader, the other is to be a follower.
人的一生中可能只有两条路：或者你成为领头羊，或者你将成为随大流的人！

There are no rewards in being a follower. But to be a leader means a lot more than walking around saying, ‘I’m the boss.’ It means taking a stand for what is right and believing in what you are doing. To become a better swimmer means becoming a leader sometimes whether you want to or not.
如果你是一个随大流者，你不会得到回报。但是要想成为领头羊，你永远也不能只是闲散的跺着方步说：“我是老板。”这意味着你只能停一下来确定方向，然后就要相信自己的决定。要想成为好的运动员，无论你愿意与否，你必须成为领头羊。

I have offered a lot of long answers to a short question, but if I had to narrow it all down to two words, it would be consistency and passion. Those are the keys to becoming a better swimmer in the greatest sport on the planet.
就这个小问题，我说了很多的东西。我愿意综合成两个词给大家，那就是坚持和激情！这就是成为我们这个星球上最伟大的运动---游泳---最佳选手的最关键的因素。