Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Channeling Your Inner Olympian: Time Flies When You’re Having Fun
The swimmers who represent Team USA at the Olympics are a select group, the best of the best. Emulating the qualities and characteristics of these athletes can help you be your best. The following are some tips for channeling your inner Olympian.
Channel your inner Haley and try something new.
Haley Anderson is the only American to earn an Olympic medal in 10K marathon swimming, capturing silver at the 2012 London Games. The California-native finished fifth in the event at the 2016 Rio Games and sixth at this past summer’s Tokyo Games. She is a five-time Open Water World Championships medalist and four-time winner at the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships.
It would be natural to assume that someone who is the most accomplished long-distance aquatic athlete in U.S. history started swimming open water at a young age. Really young. Like, just shortly after birth.
In fact, you might imagine Anderson’s doting parents exiting the hospital in Santa Clara on November 20, 1991, with their dear lil’ guppy outfitted in the world’s smallest neoprene onesie, then proceeding directly to San Francisco Bay and dropping her in, at which point she freestyles in the most precious, newborn-way to Alcatraz Island and back.
Such is not the case, yet the truth of Anderson’s open water origin story is almost less plausible. She stood on the starting platform at age 18 for her very first 10K race in 2010, just two years before standing on the podium in London to receive her silver medal.
Haley’s decision to give open water a try turned out to be a fortuitous one, but it certainly wasn’t an easy one. She was a highly-successful pool swimmer. During her four years competing at the University of Southern California, Haley was an 11-time All American, winning three NCAA titles and seven Pac-12 titles. With a nudge from the U.S. open water head coach at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Catherine Kase—a USC assistant at the time—Haley gave open water a go.
How to Haley it this season: Try something new. Maybe it’s a different stroke, maybe it’s a different distance. Maybe it’s open water! Maybe your team is lacking a swimmer in a particular event and you can fill that spot. Maybe it’ll work out long-term, maybe it won’t. Regardless, the act of taking a chance will spark growth, and that’s the type of mindset that will pay dividends in the pool and beyond.
Channel your inner Katie and be an amazing teammate.
Listing Katie Ledecky’s swimming accomplishments at this point feels unnecessary, and, to be honest, a bit exhausting. It’s a lengthy list to roll out. Let’s just all agree that she’s a capable swimmer.
Ledecky is also a world-class teammate. After touching the wall in the final of the 800 freestyle at the 2020 U.S. Team Trials in Omaha, she moved across the lane lines from four to eight to congratulate Katie Grimes on her second-place finish and first Olympic birth. History’s greatest female swimmer welcoming the 15 year old to Team USA was a special moment.
“I’m just so excited about this team that’s coming together and getting to be on a team with somebody like Katie,” Ledecky went on to say during the post-race interview while standing alongside Grimes, who looked as though she might burst into a million pieces of confetti. “I think Katie squared is going to crush it in Tokyo.”
How to Katie it this season: Go out of your way to welcome new members to the team. Celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of others. Pull people up when they are down. Commit to being the type of teammate you want to have as a teammate.
Channel your inner Caeleb and have fun.
Albert Einstein famously said, “Time flies when you are having fun, be it butterflyin’ or freestylin’ or whatevs.” Stated simply: FUN = FAST.
The authenticity of the quote is debatable. Turns out history’s most celebrated physicist didn’t actually know how to swim, which is a real bummer. Al was blessed with a natural head of swimmer’s hair, and the breaststroke would have been a terrific stroke to showcase that sweet 'stache of his. He also sported a full sleeve tattoo — featuring a bog turtle, a stallion and an American goldfinch — although it was very rarely seen due to his proclivity for gray suits and brown leather jackets.
Regardless, Einstein’s heavily-embellished idiom holds water when applied to the life of Caeleb Dressel. Time does fly when the Floridian leaves the blocks (SEE: TOKYO GAMES) due at least in part to his personal theory of relativity: enjoyment of a given pursuit is proportional to the amount of fun had in the process of said pursuit.
Some might say of course it’s easy to have fun when you’re winning Olympic medals and breaking world records and generally being anointed a global superstar. Yet, we heard from highly-successful athletes at both the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming and Tokyo Games who courageously shared their experiences and suggested that winning and performing well doesn’t necessarily mean a person is feeling well. Success comes with expectation and pressure and commitment. Enjoyment isn’t necessarily inherent.
Fun is a priority, a mindset, a choice, and Dressel seems to be able to enjoy whatever moment he is in.
One of the world’s greatest swimmers also seems to be one of the world’s biggest goofballs. Follow Dressel’s Instagram and you’ll find yourself smiling and laughing because he seems to so often be smiling and laughing.
Synchronized headbanging with a little girl in the next-car-over at a stoplight; nervously posing with a suspicious-looking emu; attempting (successfully) to stay afloat a medicine ball with Townley Haas; crushin’ on his drum set; staring out the window at deer with wife Meghan and dog Jane, their three chins resting on the sill.
Social media reflects a curated existence, certainly, but Dressel’s good-feels vibe feels genuine.
So is he swimming so fast because he’s having fun, or is he having fun because he’s swimming so fast? Probably both.
How to Caeleb it this season: Put "having fun" as your top priority and go from there. Setting goals for specific times, finishes, accolades is fine, but hitting those marks won’t mean much unless you enjoy yourself along the way. In 10 years, your memories will be the people, the relationships and the laughs, not the numbers. You may never swim as fast Caeleb Dressel—or even Jane, who can flatout crank a 25 yard doggy paddle—but you can have as much fun.
Channel your inner Haley and try something new.Haley Anderson is the only American to earn an Olympic medal in 10K marathon swimming, capturing silver at the 2012 London Games. The California-native finished fifth in the event at the 2016 Rio Games and sixth at this past summer’s Tokyo Games. She is a five-time Open Water World Championships medalist and four-time winner at the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships.
It would be natural to assume that someone who is the most accomplished long-distance aquatic athlete in U.S. history started swimming open water at a young age. Really young. Like, just shortly after birth.
In fact, you might imagine Anderson’s doting parents exiting the hospital in Santa Clara on November 20, 1991, with their dear lil’ guppy outfitted in the world’s smallest neoprene onesie, then proceeding directly to San Francisco Bay and dropping her in, at which point she freestyles in the most precious, newborn-way to Alcatraz Island and back.
Such is not the case, yet the truth of Anderson’s open water origin story is almost less plausible. She stood on the starting platform at age 18 for her very first 10K race in 2010, just two years before standing on the podium in London to receive her silver medal.
Haley’s decision to give open water a try turned out to be a fortuitous one, but it certainly wasn’t an easy one. She was a highly-successful pool swimmer. During her four years competing at the University of Southern California, Haley was an 11-time All American, winning three NCAA titles and seven Pac-12 titles. With a nudge from the U.S. open water head coach at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Catherine Kase—a USC assistant at the time—Haley gave open water a go.
How to Haley it this season: Try something new. Maybe it’s a different stroke, maybe it’s a different distance. Maybe it’s open water! Maybe your team is lacking a swimmer in a particular event and you can fill that spot. Maybe it’ll work out long-term, maybe it won’t. Regardless, the act of taking a chance will spark growth, and that’s the type of mindset that will pay dividends in the pool and beyond.
Channel your inner Katie and be an amazing teammate.Listing Katie Ledecky’s swimming accomplishments at this point feels unnecessary, and, to be honest, a bit exhausting. It’s a lengthy list to roll out. Let’s just all agree that she’s a capable swimmer.
Ledecky is also a world-class teammate. After touching the wall in the final of the 800 freestyle at the 2020 U.S. Team Trials in Omaha, she moved across the lane lines from four to eight to congratulate Katie Grimes on her second-place finish and first Olympic birth. History’s greatest female swimmer welcoming the 15 year old to Team USA was a special moment.
“I’m just so excited about this team that’s coming together and getting to be on a team with somebody like Katie,” Ledecky went on to say during the post-race interview while standing alongside Grimes, who looked as though she might burst into a million pieces of confetti. “I think Katie squared is going to crush it in Tokyo.”
How to Katie it this season: Go out of your way to welcome new members to the team. Celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of others. Pull people up when they are down. Commit to being the type of teammate you want to have as a teammate.
Channel your inner Caeleb and have fun.Albert Einstein famously said, “Time flies when you are having fun, be it butterflyin’ or freestylin’ or whatevs.” Stated simply: FUN = FAST.
The authenticity of the quote is debatable. Turns out history’s most celebrated physicist didn’t actually know how to swim, which is a real bummer. Al was blessed with a natural head of swimmer’s hair, and the breaststroke would have been a terrific stroke to showcase that sweet 'stache of his. He also sported a full sleeve tattoo — featuring a bog turtle, a stallion and an American goldfinch — although it was very rarely seen due to his proclivity for gray suits and brown leather jackets.
Regardless, Einstein’s heavily-embellished idiom holds water when applied to the life of Caeleb Dressel. Time does fly when the Floridian leaves the blocks (SEE: TOKYO GAMES) due at least in part to his personal theory of relativity: enjoyment of a given pursuit is proportional to the amount of fun had in the process of said pursuit.
Some might say of course it’s easy to have fun when you’re winning Olympic medals and breaking world records and generally being anointed a global superstar. Yet, we heard from highly-successful athletes at both the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming and Tokyo Games who courageously shared their experiences and suggested that winning and performing well doesn’t necessarily mean a person is feeling well. Success comes with expectation and pressure and commitment. Enjoyment isn’t necessarily inherent.
Fun is a priority, a mindset, a choice, and Dressel seems to be able to enjoy whatever moment he is in.
One of the world’s greatest swimmers also seems to be one of the world’s biggest goofballs. Follow Dressel’s Instagram and you’ll find yourself smiling and laughing because he seems to so often be smiling and laughing.
Synchronized headbanging with a little girl in the next-car-over at a stoplight; nervously posing with a suspicious-looking emu; attempting (successfully) to stay afloat a medicine ball with Townley Haas; crushin’ on his drum set; staring out the window at deer with wife Meghan and dog Jane, their three chins resting on the sill.
Social media reflects a curated existence, certainly, but Dressel’s good-feels vibe feels genuine.
So is he swimming so fast because he’s having fun, or is he having fun because he’s swimming so fast? Probably both.
How to Caeleb it this season: Put "having fun" as your top priority and go from there. Setting goals for specific times, finishes, accolades is fine, but hitting those marks won’t mean much unless you enjoy yourself along the way. In 10 years, your memories will be the people, the relationships and the laughs, not the numbers. You may never swim as fast Caeleb Dressel—or even Jane, who can flatout crank a 25 yard doggy paddle—but you can have as much fun.