How Pre-Meet Rituals Contribute to Swimming and Diving Success
10/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Pre-Meet Rituals
What Contributes to the Swimming & Diving Teams' Success?
According to Webster's Dictionary, a ritual is "an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner." Every student-athlete practices a pre-game (or pre-meet) ritual whether they realize it or not. Some football players listen to music on their iPods during warm-ups. Basketball players may read and recite inspirational quotes before they take the court. But what do the members of the Swimming & Diving teams do before each meet? What helps them get prepared to compete against Big East rivals and win championships year after year?
Some seniors from the 2006-07 swimming and diving team shared their insight on what they do to help themselves succeed at their highest level.
I can't listen to music before a meet! I always get the song stuck in my head when I go to swim and it never works out! Instead I prefer to think about things that have made me happy. For some reason, thinking about things like this calms me down. I feel relaxed and when I am like this I can fly through the water. I often think about the event I am competing in and think back to the time when I swam it best. I think about that race and how I felt during it. I think about the adrenaline I had and how fast I felt in the water. It's a remarkable feeling when you're touching the wall and seeing a personal best. It's that exact feeling that drives me to do my best each time I step to the blocks.
My pre-meet ritual is to get a good night of sleep, eat breakfast, warm-up, and listen to Michael Jackson. Unfortunately it isn't anything particularly exciting but it does help me focus and swim my best.
I don't think I do anything very interesting before meets. I pretty much listen to music to both relax and get pumped up. I also get really excited from my teammates cheering, and by cheering for my team. Being excited is contagious. I also make sure I eat right so I have enough energy and I always wear the same pair of goggles. I have a stuffed panther that comes in my bag to every meet that I've carried since high school.
I don't do a whole lot to prepare for a meet. I simply make sure I get a lot of rest building up to the meet. I try to eat healthy and not think about much of anything. I try to have fun and stay as relaxed as possible.
I always try to know ahead of time what event I will be racing at a meet so that I know before I get there and how I
should warm up. I like to relax the night before a meet and usually lie down on the floor (hard surface) somewhere
in my room or quiet place and close my eyes. I try to go through the race in my mind visualizing things just as I
would like them to happen. I picture getting up on the blocks, the start, the breakout, the first few strokes and then
the first wall. I go through my whole race. I try to focus on feeling my stroke as I would like it to feel. I know there
are points in my race where I am always stronger and weaker so I focus on doing those well and take note of the
things we've been going over recently in practice to work on. I get a good meal the night before, not too heavy, usually some form of pasta and chicken (I love chicken!)
In the morning I try to drink a lot of water no matter what time the race is. I've gone for walks in the park the morning of the race before we head to the pool for finals and the ruls is NO thinking about swimming. I get a good stretch once we get to the pool and get in for warm-up. I like to do stroke drills for feeling in the warm-up especially for IM races. I do have my favorite suits and goggles that I like to wear...but those do have to change from time to time as they wear out.
You can catch the Pitt Swimming and Diving teams put their pre-meet rituals to the test in their annual Blue/Gold Intra-squad meet this Friday, October 13th at 3:30 pm at Trees Pool. For a full Swimming and Diving schedule, please visit www.pittsburghpanthers.com
Players Mentioned
