Sacrifice

To be truly great at anything you do, you need to put your best foot forward. And this means sacrifice. As a Division 1 swimmer, sometimes this sacrifice is forced.

As you get older and competing becomes more serious, there is an increasing level of dedication demanded if one wants to stay on top. Whether it be going to bed earlier or eating less junk food, there are many sacrifices swimmers take in order to be the best they can be.

1) Wake up early.
             Swimmers are famous for being up before the sun. When normal people are just waking up, swimmers are heading into nap #1 of the day (if we're lucky). If we have a lot of work to do, sorry, no sleep for you...time for coffee.

2) 48 Hour Rule.
             College is fun. Going to bars, house parties, or even just a simple dorm party is what helps college students get through the week...unless you're an athlete. Sure we have fun, we go out. But not when you have a meet the next day or even two days away. If you want your body to be ready to go, you cannot be hungover.

3) Run on lack of energy.
              In addition to the lack of sleep, our bodies are constantly aching. Sore shoulders, hamstrings, hip flexors, biceps, triceps, armpits... you name it! Every part of our bodies are used in swimming. Simple things like walking up the stairs or putting your backpack over your back become dreaded tasks.

4) Take huge chunk of time out of our day for practice.
             We dedicate 2 hours of time (at least) to swim. But that doesn't include the time going to/returning from practice. When you're doing homework and you know you have to leave for practice in 20 minutes, you mentally check out of what you're doing. All you can think about is what the practice is going to be like. Even more time is dedicated when we have two practices AND a lift session in one day. That's 5-6 hours of training in one day. On top of all that, we have to practice our mental toughness so we talk to a sports psychologist to gain the confidence and motivation that we need to make it through each day.

5) Weekends.
              On top of the 48 hour rule. Our meets take longer than the average sporting competition. There is no time limit to a meet. No periods, quarters, or halves to make sure everything is running smoothly. One meet can take up to 4 hours. And if there's more than one session to that meet, that's 4 hours Friday night, 4 hours Saturday morning, and 4 hours Saturday afternoon. By the end of the meet, you're too tired to even try and have fun on Saturday night.


Swimmers go to bed before 10 each night, nap during the day, and barely go out on weekends. What a riveting college experience!!!