Some swimmers can try and play subtle little mental tricks on you (designed to give them an advantage) without you even knowing. These can only affect you a) if you allow them to, and b) if you do not realize what they are doing. 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 that 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 at all. They may even follow this statement by saying "you should do well, you've been training heaps lately!". This is a subtle way of taking all 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. "Oh 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 is designed to place a small amount of fear into the other swimmers' minds, making them wonder why they don't possess the same confidence as this swimmer seems to have. A swimmer who might be low in confidence would then feed that fear with their own negative thoughts, until they eventually become mental monsters! By this stage, they are out of the race before they even begin.

Body language is one of the most powerful subconscious influences, and if you find that a swimmer's body language is psyching you out, then simply refuse to look at them - in fact, you can then mentally reverse the situation, and imagine them being intimidated by you. Or otherwise you might wish to use 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 the comment 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!

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. Then there are other swimmers who actually prefer to use the 'reverse psychology' tactic and might respond with 'yes, I probably will" - this can take the pressure off you and put it right back onto them! But beware, if you use this approach, make sure that you mentally re-affirm to yourself that you don't really believe that at all. Many races are won before the race starts, never forget that.

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

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