Swim Ontario Word of the Month - Team Work

Team Work - July 2010

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit."

"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."

There is no "I" in "TEAMWORK".

Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.

TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Endurance - June 2010

"Those who are successful are those who are patient, confident and willing to endure even that which is unknown to them." - Anonymous

“Endurance and to be able to endure is the first lesson a child should learn because it's the one they will most need to know.” - Jean Jacques Rousseau

“Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.” - Virgil

“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” – Mahatma Ghandi

"Don't look for short cuts - Next time you have the opportunity - take the long way home!"

"Go the extra mile, take the extra step, open that 'other door' - there in lies opportunity" Anonymous

This month's Swim Ontario word of the month is by far a very strong trait to have. In fact, it is probably in Swim Ontario's top ten things that a child should learn in order to succeed in life. The Swim Ontario long term athlete development (LTAD) discusses many life skills like goal setting (and achieving), taking larger tasks and breaking them into “small steps to success”, confidence through achievement, structure, self-discipline, public speaking (performances), leadership development, and patience but more importantly it teaches endurance.

Endurance is the ability to sustain over time, to call from ourselves renewed commitment and effort when we are confronted with challenges or hardship. Endurance often requires tolerating discomfort, and may call on us to reach for resources and stamina we are not certain we possess.  Endurance means that we remain steadfast even through criticism, monotony, and discouraging odds.

Endurance requires planfulness and balance, not just strength of will. Health and pacing often determine our ability to sustain. This means that we need to take care of ourselves if we care about the long term.

Other powerful words that are similar to endurance are: patience, stamina, survival, fortitude, staying power, heart, gutsiness, perseverance, persistence, durability, tolerance, tenacity, longevity…
 

Attitude - April 2010

According to the famous psychologist Dr. Denis Waitley, “The most readily identifiable quality of a total winner is an overall attitude of personal optimism and enthusiasm.” One of the best lessons to learn in life is that even though we can’t control all of life’s circumstances, situations and people, we can control our reactions, attitude and behavior towards them. Through managing our attitudes we can live a better life and get that much more out of our performances.

The right attitude can help you enjoy life more, challenge yourself more both in and out of the pool, have better relationships with family, friends, coaches, teachers and neighbors, achieve better grades, and enjoy better health.

Psychologist William James said, “The most important discovery of our time is that we can alter our lives by altering our attitudes.” 

At various Swim Ontario camps these past few months, swimmers have had the opportunity to work on body and breathing awareness.  The activation, recovery and breathing exercises that they have done demonstrate that the right posture and breathing pattern makes a big difference in how you feel.  Having a good activation and recovery routine can help them feel better about themselves and prepare them for the challenges of training, competition and daily routines.

Another way to work on your attitude is to take accountability for your actions - both "blame" as well as credit. For example, if a swimmer shows up for practice without a water bottle and reports, “My mom didn't put it in my bag”, coaches can ask, “Who’s water bottle is it?” They answer, “Well, it’s my water bottle, my bag.” Coaches can then ask, “So who’s responsibility is it to bring your water bottle?” The swimmer understands the point and takes a step in the direction towards accountability and maturity.

If we all try to reinforce a good mental attitude through daily recognition of success, teach accountability and also encourage people to laugh at their shortcomings - EVERYONE makes mistakes - we will foster an overall attitude of optimism and enthusiasm.  When we reassure each other that  - A failure at one task is not a failure in life - we help build self-confidence, a positive attitude and encourage each other to keep working towards our goals.