Today’s story focuses on our team embracing their journey in an extremely high-pressure situation. Tomorrow’s story will point out how a particular individual accomplished this. Tomorrow’s post will also include some of our nutrition and rituals which I believe help us embrace and own our journey.

Let me set the scene a little.

The meet had been going on for two days. The team standings had alternated many times; however, as it stood, the score was practically even between the top two teams. I’m not sure the exact numbers; all I remember is that in our speech to the team at dinner on Friday night, we told them; “This championship has come down to a dual meet. Treat prelims like a dual meet. You've swum hundreds of those. Whoever wins this dual meet will win the meet.” Now eat, go to bed, rest and don’t stay up late!

I woke up that morning and came downstairs to be greeted by about five Princeton Swimming alumni. These were recent grads, mostly from the classes of 2011 and 2012. They had made the journey from New York to Providence to support us and had arrived the night before. Within a few seconds of talking with them, they had clearly enjoyed themselves that night. To be honest, by the looks of things, I’m not entirely sure they had gone to bed yet!

I sat with them for a moment and had some laughs as they recapped their adventures from the night before.

I recall feeling their energy, excitement and passion for Princeton Swimming and also for each other. Their energy was palpable and infectious.

*Our faithful alumni at the prelims session of 2013 Ivy Championships*

After a few minutes I had to excuse myself to go prepare the bus for the team’s departure. I was the first one down to the lobby, and the team would be following shortly to head-off to prelims. As I walked away from the alumni, I felt as though I had already drunk three cups of coffee with about eight extra shots of espresso.

Simply put, their comradery put me in the best mood and gave me some great energy.

As I walked outside, I was greeted by even more alumni. They had aligned themselves to make a tunnel for the current team to walk through from the hotel lobby to the bus. When the team slowly strolled down from their rooms; one-by-one, the alumni would cheer, make jokes, slap them on the back etc. Your basic “BRO-ing out” situation.

I’ll never forget the look on some of those freshmen faces. They didn’t even know who half these guys were, but that didn’t change how the alumni made them feel. The freshmen do-eyed gaze was quickly replaced by, as Rob would say, “A shit-ass-grin.”

The team got on the bus with huge smiles on their faces, sharing with each other what some of the alumni had said/joked to them. I overheard some say how lucky they felt to have a group like this, and to be a part of that group. Once again, our alumni’s energy had been contagious. This transformed what could have been a pressure filled, silent, tense bus ride into a chatter-filled, laughing and very relaxed environment.

When the bus arrived outside the Brown Pool, we unloaded our bags and began our walk into the building. Even though it was a cold Providence February morning, I was taken back by how beautiful the day was. The sun was incredibly bright for 9:30 AM. The sky was bright blue- I just looked around and thought to myself “Man, this is just gorgeous.” Being the social media hound that I am, I snapped a photo of Rob walking in front of me with his iconic brief case and 1970’s Princeton jacket. I understood this was a special moment.

Rob walking into the prelims session of Ivy Champs.

The team placed their bags down and began to stretch. As I looked around the deck, I saw a lot of other teams, with a lot riding on the line, sitting down in silence staring straight ahead at the competition pool. They all looked as though they were staring into that pool like a fortune teller would stare into a crystal ball; hoping to see the future. Perhaps they were beginning to image what the future would look like; were they “dress rehearsing tragedy” ? (A great quote by Brene Brown.)

I then looked back at our team; the guys were going through their traditional stretching routine, laughing, razzing each other…I think Rob might have just put a trash can lid on his head or something? You never know with Rob!

I was already fairly calm before this, uncharacteristically clam, but it was at this moment that my calmness transformed into a strong belief we were going to win. I couldn’t explain it back then, but have since come to understand why. Our men were doing an incredible job at staying present and practicing gratitude. Their minds and focus were being channeled in effective, efficient and healthy way.

They were not allowing the uncertainty, or enormity, of the tasks which lay ahead- to deprive them of an understanding and appreciation for the special & unique moment of opportunity in which they found themselves standing.

It was approaching 10:50 AM, our usual team meeting time. Rob approached me and said,

“Well, dude, what the hell do we tell em’?”

I thought about it and replied back, “They’re going to be fine. Just look at them. I don’t even think we need to talk about swimming. They’re ready.”

Rob then said, “Yup; you’re right - you talk to them” then walked away.

The guys gathered around in a very tight huddle with their arms around each other; smiles on their faces. When I think back to this moment the expression “Licking their chops” comes to mind.

My speech was short and sweet (a rarity for me!)

In it I shared my observation of the morning; how they were staying relaxed. I took a moment to pass on some gratitude for the beauty of the morning and how lucky we were to have this moment of opportunity to test what we were capable of. I concluded by telling them how inspired I was feeling. I let them know, regardless of the outcome, I was grateful to be a part of this group of men who had completely inspired me.

We had a total of 16 swims that morning. When all was said-and-done and the session was over, we qualified 15 swims for the top 8 “A final”.

Our lone swimmer who did not make the A final qualified for the B final in his worst event (which he had only swum twice that season) a gutsy swim to say the least.

My point is this; in a moment which one could, almost understandably , comprehend them caving into the pressure to perform...their minds were on what really mattered; the experience, the relationships with each other and what they needed to do that morning, individually and collectively , to get their bodies in a place which would match their minds.

Looking back, I now realize that their ability to stay present on the bus and & on the pool deck flowed into their warmup. Each person knew exactly what they had to do to get their bodies feeling as best they could come race time. NOT the best they have ever felt, but the best for the present situation.

By staying present, they allowed themselves to feel supported and comfortable via their comradery. Rather than focusing on how nervous they were, and letting that feeling overtake them into having a physical effect, they executed their pre-race game plan with a clear mind and efficiency: fine-tuning the machine.

Would our swimmers have been able to stay present without our alumni setting the tone?

What would the dynamic on deck have been like if our swimmers hadn’t shared their stories of gratitude on the bus with each other?

Would we still have won if Rob and I had given them a 15 minute yelling-rah-rah speech about the need to win?

Who knows for sure…

but I’d be willing to bet the house: if these things did not occur; it would have been much harder to claim that 2013 Ivy Championship banner which now hangs in DeNunzio Pool.

Please don’t confuse my message here. I am not saying that we just walked into the pool, goofed off and got lucky. Nor am I saying the job of a coach should be to distract swimmers, or try fool them into not noticing the clearly stressful event which is about to occur. What I am saying is this;

As a coach the energy you bring on deck with you is contagious. Your athletes pick up on it immediately.

If you can focus on keeping yourself present, being mindful and practicing gratitude; your athletes will reciprocate. In my experience, this reciprocation will cause a noticeable physiological effect.

I would argue that this environment allows them to appropriately channel their nerves and emotions instead of hopelessly trying to overcoming them.

In these moments, don't be afraid to share words such as; love, gratitude, support, admiration (the list could go on-and-on, but you know what I mean.) I believe it's in these ridiculously high-pressured situations we create for ourselves, that people need to hear these words the most.

Some quick suggestions on how to check and see if your swimmers are staying present:

Ask them to walk you through their process between now and race time

- what will you eat, what have you eaten?

- when will you eat it?

- when are you getting a rub down/massage?

- what do you need to do in warm-up today?

and the two most important questions:

- what are you most appreciative for right now?

- have you shared that with a teammate?

The Saturday Morning Preliminary Session of 2013 Ivy Championships. A Lesson in Staying Present and Practicing Gratitude.