One of the things that the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 shined a light on was the need for you, as an athlete take exquisitely good care of yourself. Of course, this is obvious in a physical sense — you have to train right with good mechanics, balance hard training with periods of rest, consistently get enough sleep as well as being sure that you eat and hydrate properly. No one can become a champion without addressing these physical requirements.

However, what this Olympics has really taught us is that your self-care must extend beyond the physical to include your emotional and mental health.

Simone Biles, considered by many to be the greatest gymnast of all times, was expected to wrack up even more gold medals in this Olympiad to add to her already amazing accomplishments. To everyone's surprise, Biles withdrew herself from the All Around competition when she started having problems with some of her skills. Realizing that to push forward and force herself to compete would be physically dangerous and emotionally too stressful. She decided to listen to her body and instincts and take care of herself.

All too often, we tend to glorify talented athletes and treat them as if they are superheroes. We expect extraordinary things from them and get confused when they talk about things like depression, anxiety, self-doubts, etc. In the swimming world, Michael Phelps has shed a lot of light on the fact that elite-level athletes are people too! Like many great athletes, Phelps had struggled with mental health too. Competing at a high level, there is tremendous pressure for athletes, like Phelps, to bury their feelings and emotional handicaps because, to open up about them and seek help, can seen as a sign of weakness to the outside world.  

Since his retirement from the sport, Phelps has spent a great deal of time publicly telling his story and advocating for the mental health of athletes. Directly dealing with issues like anxiety and depression is NOT a sign of weakness or frailty! On the contrary, facing your fears and asking for and getting help is a sign of strength. It takes a great deal of courage to take an honest look at your issues and pain and then allow yourself to seek the right kind of help from a trained specialist.

As swimmers, you're taught to override and push through physical discomfort and pain. You are taught that overriding is a crucial success skill. And maybe that's the case when what you're pushing through and overriding is the pain and fatigue of oxygen debt from hard training. However, it's not a success strategy to ignore your emotional pain and struggles. Trying to “be strong” by continuously hiding your feelings will almost always backfire on you and could eventually damage your athletic dreams.


People tend to confuse mental toughness with learning to override your physical and emotional needs. They mistakenly believe that focusing on successes is a sign of courage and strength and conversely, that when an athlete puts their own needs in front of their winning, then this is a clear sign of weakness or of quitting. While we all want athletic success in the pool, going fast at any cost is NOT the most important thing in your sport, despite what many people may believe. Listening to your body and taking care of your mental and emotional health IS! 

So what's the lesson in this for you as an athlete? You want to learn to listen carefully to (and trust) yourself and your body. You want to put your mental, emotional and physical health first in front of the needs of others who might be pushing you to override your feelings and putting you in a position that leaves you feeling unsafe.

Yes, in order to get good as an athlete, you have to learn to “get comfortable being uncomfortable!” That is, you have to learn to regularly step outside of your comfort zone and push yourself. There is no question that this is a critical success strategy. However, you have to learn to be smart about stepping outside of your comfort zone so that you are always trusting your instincts in the process. If you're hurting emotionally, pay close attention! Do not cover up or hide these feelings, pretending that, “I'm fine! No problem here!” Have the courage to do what Phelps did and get professional help if you need it. Do not try to go it alone!

Bottom line: your feelings are important! They belong to you! Anyone outside of you can't tell you that you don't feel a certain way. If you're feeling uncomfortable, if you're feeling unsafe inside because of external pressures, if you're feeling hopeless and down, then tell your parents or other adults that you can trust and ask for help. This is the true mark of a champion.