I once heard a true story about a group who became trapped inside a cave whose entrance became sealed by a landslide. Only one person had a watch on, and so to stop the others worrying about how long they had before their oxygen ran out, every TWO hours he announced to the group that ONE hour had passed. This made the others feel that time was going slowly, and that they actually had more air left in the cave than they really did! They were eventually rescued - and had all survived, except for one, the owner of the watch who knew the real time!
This shows how we have the ability to 'bend our reality' to suit us better. Another example of this is Leisl Jones, a 15 year old swimmer who recently qualified as the youngest swimmer in the Australian Olympic team. Her coach used to get her to imagine that whilst she was swimming, she was being chased by a giant sand crab (a common ocean-dweller possessing huge scissor-like arms which can incur a small but painful injury to human skin!).
Needless to say, this provided plenty of motivation for her to swim faster - she definitely didn't want the imaginary sand crab to 'nip' her on the toes. She actually credited this simple method for her success after qualifying for the Olympic team. This is another simple case of 'creating a new reality', and so here is another method you may wish to try, which I have never mentioned before.
Before I go any further, I must remind all swimmers that because everyone is different, some swimmers may get better results experimenting with their own methods - as there is no one method that will work for everyone. Most swimmers have experienced the power of swimming with, or against, the ocean's (or a river's) 'current'. Swimming against the current, you feel that you are simply getting nowhere fast! But if you a swimming WITH the tide, you often feel that you are moving at ten times your normal speed, almost 'flying' through the water with amazing effortless power. This is the feeling you may wish to mentally experiment with in the pool, 'bending your reality' so that you feel that you have the tide behind you (in your lane only), whilst the other swimmers are simply swimming along in still water. Imagine that you are flying through the water effortlessly, pushed along by the enormous force of the tide. This is a simple visualization technique which may work wonders for your speed.
It's similar to another visualization technique I mentioned in an earlier tip, where you imagine that your lane (only) is lit up with vibrant energy which energizes your body and makes you swim faster. The fact that these techniques work show very simply that 'it's all in the mind'. It's just a matter of 'bending your reality' to suit yourself, until you eventually feel as if you cannot go wrong. Many swimmers are very skeptical about trying these unusual methods initially, only to be very surprised at the difference in their results!
Never be afraid to try something new, it might make all the difference!
