Olympic Swimmer Talk - Janet Evans
"People told me my whole life that I wouldn't make the Olympics or be an elite swimmer. Look what happened."
- Janet Evans, 3 time Olympian, Winner of 4 Gold and 1 Silver medal
Last night I went to hear Janet Evans talk at my swim club. Basically it was me, 20 high school swimmers, 50 kids under the age of 12, and a couple coaches. At the beginning of the talk, they played clips of her at the 1999 Summer Olympics. She was 17 at the time, a kid from Southern California taking on the East German swimmers. It was riveting, that trademark stroke with the straight arm recovery just churning through the water and giving these beastial women who are loaded up on steroids and HGH a beat down.
After the video was over--which lasted about 5 minutes--she talked briefly. I guess that she had another engagement to get to so she made some points back to back that were pretty powerful. Here's the summary:
On Being a Champion
Being a champion is not solely about winning, or getting the gold medal. Being a champion is about getting in the pool--or whatever your discipline--working with focus and purpose each day, and putting all your energy into that practice. If you are committed to this process, and practice these fundamentals consistently and with passion, then you will be a champion. Translation: being a champion is more about character than absolute results.
On Failure
At the Barcelona Games in 1992, Janet got out touched in a race that she was supposed to win. She openly admitted that she would have won if she would have listened to her coach, but she didn't. She didn't think that anyone in the world could beat her. But she learned from it, and never made that mistake again. Translation: Everyone is beatable. Never think you are too good not to be beaten or upstaged. This will keep you out of trouble.
On Desire and Goals
At 12 Janet was able to go to the Los Angeles Olympic Games and watch some of the events. She told her parents and her coach afterwards that she wanted to go to the Olympics, and wanted to know what she would have to do to get their. They made a plan, and stuck to it. At 12 she was swimming twice a day--I could be mistaken here but I think she was doing 14,000 meters a day at 12. She treated each practice seriously. She gave everything she had at each practice. Her coach and parents told her that she was capable of whatever she put her mind to and she believed them.
When she was 17 she went to an international swim meet and saw the East German women for the first time. At 17 she was 5 foot 2 inches, and maybe 95 pounds soaking wet--no pun intended. The East German women were like 5 foot 10 inches tall and about 180 pounds. And these women scared the pants off of her. Nonetheless, she beat the tar out of these women at the Olympics.
That's pretty much the high notes of Janet's brief talk. She was extremely personable, and down to Earth. At the same time, you got a sense very quickly that she's not like "normal" people upstairs. Mentally she's a different animal. Not to be trite, but there really isn't much that a person can't do if they set a goal, work with the right people, and work with focus and diligence each day. It's not rocket science, but it ain't easy.
Namaste
- Janet Evans, 3 time Olympian, Winner of 4 Gold and 1 Silver medal
Last night I went to hear Janet Evans talk at my swim club. Basically it was me, 20 high school swimmers, 50 kids under the age of 12, and a couple coaches. At the beginning of the talk, they played clips of her at the 1999 Summer Olympics. She was 17 at the time, a kid from Southern California taking on the East German swimmers. It was riveting, that trademark stroke with the straight arm recovery just churning through the water and giving these beastial women who are loaded up on steroids and HGH a beat down.
After the video was over--which lasted about 5 minutes--she talked briefly. I guess that she had another engagement to get to so she made some points back to back that were pretty powerful. Here's the summary:
On Being a Champion
Being a champion is not solely about winning, or getting the gold medal. Being a champion is about getting in the pool--or whatever your discipline--working with focus and purpose each day, and putting all your energy into that practice. If you are committed to this process, and practice these fundamentals consistently and with passion, then you will be a champion. Translation: being a champion is more about character than absolute results.
On Failure
At the Barcelona Games in 1992, Janet got out touched in a race that she was supposed to win. She openly admitted that she would have won if she would have listened to her coach, but she didn't. She didn't think that anyone in the world could beat her. But she learned from it, and never made that mistake again. Translation: Everyone is beatable. Never think you are too good not to be beaten or upstaged. This will keep you out of trouble.
On Desire and Goals
At 12 Janet was able to go to the Los Angeles Olympic Games and watch some of the events. She told her parents and her coach afterwards that she wanted to go to the Olympics, and wanted to know what she would have to do to get their. They made a plan, and stuck to it. At 12 she was swimming twice a day--I could be mistaken here but I think she was doing 14,000 meters a day at 12. She treated each practice seriously. She gave everything she had at each practice. Her coach and parents told her that she was capable of whatever she put her mind to and she believed them.
When she was 17 she went to an international swim meet and saw the East German women for the first time. At 17 she was 5 foot 2 inches, and maybe 95 pounds soaking wet--no pun intended. The East German women were like 5 foot 10 inches tall and about 180 pounds. And these women scared the pants off of her. Nonetheless, she beat the tar out of these women at the Olympics.
That's pretty much the high notes of Janet's brief talk. She was extremely personable, and down to Earth. At the same time, you got a sense very quickly that she's not like "normal" people upstairs. Mentally she's a different animal. Not to be trite, but there really isn't much that a person can't do if they set a goal, work with the right people, and work with focus and diligence each day. It's not rocket science, but it ain't easy.
Namaste
posted by Zen_Accountant at 9:47 AM
2 Comments:
14,000 meters a day? That is 8.5 miles. But honestly that is probably about right. In my peak in high school, our morning and afternoon practices brought us up to about 12,000 yards per day. Amazing if you think about it. How many people are dedicated enough work out every day - and Janet Evans was working out TWICE a day.
How come I can't post a comment on your last post? Oh well, I will post here since those two blog entries tie very neatly together.
What Janet is saying applies to more than just athletics. Champions are champions because of who they are, not what they do. For example would we call an athlete who used steroids a champion if they broke a world record? Do we call someone successful if they work and become wealthy but have 3 failed marriages? Personally I think most champions go unnoticed because they have achieved excellence in things not valued by society. You can't put your logo on someone dedicated to handing out blankets to the homeless.
The other blog that you referenced had this quote:
One of the quickest ways to increase productivity is reduce the mental junk food that you consume. Are your media choices consistent with excellence? Are you making the same excuses for media outlets that you used to apply to your nutrition
Holy cow! Talk about a light bulb going off over my head. That is exactly my problem lately. I’ve been watching garbage television and dying a little inside every time. I’ve got to get better about that.
MAD
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