Races are often won and lost before they even begin. Some swimmers who know this often try playing subtle mental tricks on their competitors - designed to give them a mental advantage without you even knowing it is happening. Occasionally these can backfire on the swimmer by taking their focus off their own race, but it is also important to be ready to handle these unexpected 'attacks'.

These tactics can only affect you if a) you allow them to, and b) if you do not realise what these swimmers are trying to do. Of course, mental energy should never be wasted upon worrying about anything these swimmers say or do, as that is exactly what they want you to do - focus upon problems instead of the race! But you must be on the lookout to ensure you are not being mentally 'influenced' without your knowledge. 

So what kind of subtle tricks should you watch out for? First of all, there's the swimmer who tells you they "haven't trained much at all and they don't expect to do well". They may even follow this statement by saying "but you should do well, you've been training heaps lately!". This is a subtle way of taking all the pressure off themselves, whilst placing it firmly upon your own shoulders! Never fall for this one - either ignore the comment completely or put the pressure back onto them somehow (eg. "But you always do well in this event, I think you'll be tough to beat today!").

Body language is another subtle way of psyching others out. Some swimmers strut around as if they 'own the pool', and this outward display is designed to place a small amount of fear into their competitors' minds, making them wonder why they don't possess the same level of confidence as this swimmer seems to have. Any swimmers who may be low in confidence would then feed that fear with their own negative thoughts, until they eventually become mental monsters! By this stage, they would be out of the race before it even began.

Body language is one of the most powerful mental influences, and if you find that a swimmer's body language is somewhat psyching you out, then simply refuse to look at them - in fact, you can then mentally reverse the situation, and imagine the swimmer actually being intimidated by you. Or otherwise you might wish to display some strong body language of your own - as not only does this affect other swimmers, it also mentally boosts up the swimmer who uses it.

Then there's the more obvious approach - a swimmer who says to you right before the race 'you're going down!". Your response mentally should be to totally ignore these comments and continue to focus upon your own swim.

However your outward response might vary, according to how you feel at the time. You might choose to ignore them completely with a totally expressionless face, as if you didn't hear them - and I think this is a powerful response as it makes the swimmer wonder whether you heard them or not, or whether you are simply ignoring them!

Alternatively you might choose to retaliate with a very short comment such as 'no, I'm on the way up" - and then pay them no more attention. Always keep it short though so it doesn't get your emotions involved - very important.

Then there is the 'reverse psychology' tactic to the swimmer who tells you you're 'going down'. This approach means you might respond with 'yes, I probably will" - as this can take the pressure off yourself and put it right back onto them! It also stops them in their tracks, as there is really nothing they can say in response to that. But beware, if you use this approach, make sure that you mentally re-affirm to yourself that you don't really believe what you said at all, but in fact you are going to swim powerfully and brilliantly.

Many races are won and lost even before the race starts, never forget this. The key is to ensure your mind always remains focused upon the goal, not the obstacle. As long as you do this, you will never allow anyone to psych you out.

The Mind controls the body, and the mind is unlimited.
The best of success, Craig Townsend

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