Maintaining Concentration During a Race

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Olympian Lindsay Benko. At the 2002 Short Course World Championships, Benko set a world record in the 200m freestyle, won the 200m backstroke and swam on three American record-breaking relays. At the 2000 Olympics, she won her first gold medal on the 800m free relay. Benko’s advice is on maintaining concentration during a race.

Benko’s Tip:
When you dive into the pool at the beginning of a race, sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Even after years and years of practice, races aren’t always perfect.

Recently, at the beginning of a race in an international competition, my goggles fell off. I could have given up and decided I was going to have a bad race no matter what, or I could have done what I did – stay in control. When you slip on the blocks, miss a turn or lose your goggles, don’t panic. Keep to your game plan, and things will work out better than if you panic. Getting too excited will only cause you to lose concentration. Sticking with your game plan will keep you relaxed, and in the end, your swim will be better. Even after I lost my goggles, I didn’t get too excited. Rather, I kept to my plan and ended up qualifying first in my event without my goggles.

Remember, good things can happen in a race even when a little thing goes wrong.