Evaluating Races

Beau Caldwell

 

Team – a bit of athlete and parent education here. Please read through and share with your athlete.  

 

 

While times swum in a race appear black and white, they’re actually a grey area ... Weird, huh? The thing is times (and time drops) don’t tell the whole story on growth or the process of how they were achieved. It’s the process and progress we’re going for! Consider these ways to evaluate races – most often good can be found and recognized!  

 

  1. 1) Demonstrate more advanced levels of a particular skill (ex: faster flip turns, longer streamlines, improved breathing, more appropriate splits, etc.) 

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  1. 2) Take a risk – try a new or more challenging race strategy, even though you might fail (ex: start out faster, different race prep) 

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  1. 3) Swim a new and/or more challenging event - This might be a longer distance for older swimmers or a new stroke for younger swimmers. This is growth, even if its more physically taxing. The 2nd time an event is swum usually goes better than the first.  

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  1. 4) Reaffirm a best time from the last meet. This one is the most overlooked and misconstrued - It's more applicable to older swimmers and often presents itself as one's second-best time. Swimming a best time a month prior can make it difficult to see the same drop if it’s swum in the next 3-5 weeks, especially if there is a lot of emotion put into achieving the best time from the last meet. The emotion of qualifying is commonly greater than competing at the meet they’ve qualified for, and often difficult to replicate. Swimming a second-best time or adding a very small percentage reaffirms the previous time drop is meaningful, even if there’s not black and white improvement.

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  1. 5) Swim a best time! 

 

If one of these things cannot be recognized, turn to your best resource for creating a plan and path to desired improvement – your coach!