The Challenge of High Expectations - Swimmers of the Week

One of the most challenging pressures on many young athletes these days is the high expectations placed upon those who have demonstrated talent early. Maybe the expectations originated because of a talented parent, or perhaps it was a series of high achievements and success at a young age. Whatever the trigger, once the expectations are set, the kids feel some pressure to live up to them. Sure, its natural for us to look at David Beckham's son or Peyton Manning's brother and expect them to achieve athletic success. We've all known a tall kid in high school who is expected to score 20 points and get 10 rebounds every week. We watch and expect Steph Curry to make every free throw... and are disappointed when he misses. Perhaps we even feel let down when the all-star baseball player strikes out, or when soccer stars like Ronaldo miss a penalty kick. I suppose its natural for us to have high expectations of these talented athletes, but its also very important for us to remember that they are still human. They still need to aim and shoot, stride and swing, or swim and turn with skill every time. Everyone has bad days and misses shots, or runs a little slow, or drops a fly ball... even the greatest all-stars or world champions.

Hard work paying off.

Those high expectations may well be warranted, but each independent event requires preparation and skill in execution. Hours and hours of hard work and practice go into each performance. Mental strength and concentration are important to stay focused and execute with precision. They don't succeed just because they are naturally inclined. They succeed through hard work and deliberate practice. No one is great every day. But the great ones keep working every day and keep getting better.

Three cheers for the
Red, White, and Blue.

It just so happens that this week's "Swimmers of the Week" are a couple of those athletes for who we have all come to have high expectations. (We're lucky to have quite a few of them here at MVP.) It may seem like these two always win, so it is easy for us to get used to it and think it must just be easy for them. But they succeed because they work hard. Every day. Again and again. Sure, we set a high bar for a USA National Team member who has had those high expectations placed on her since she first jumped in the Gator pool and started winning at an early age. And, it makes sense that people would expect a coach's kid to do well, since they get to be with those great teachers and mentors all the time (since birth as a matter of fact!). It's natural for us to feel that way. But, bottom line, the success of these swimmers comes from their hard work. And lots of it. Every day. Every swim requires great focus. Every training session requires great effort. Tom Hanks' character Jimmy Dugan said it well in the movie A League of Their Own--- "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great." I think that line describes many of our MVP swimmers very well, and it captures our two swimmers of the week perfectly. Congratulations to this week's Gator SOTW: Cassidy Bayer and Matthew Makin!

Coaching 'em up. 

Cassidy had lots of other things going on heading into the A meet, since she spent the last week swimming at the USA Nationals in Indianapolis. Kind of a big deal. So, you would understand if she didn't swim this week. But, showing her deep Gator roots, she traveled half way across the country just to make sure she made it back in time for the Saturday morning meet! Talk about team dedication. Then to top it off, she found time to find a great "Red, White, and Blue" outfit to lead the spirit march into the pool, and was one of the loudest cheerleaders on deck rooting for all her teammates and encouraging her little Gators to swim fast.  And she found enough gas left in the tank to win both of her races (Back and Fly), anchor a medley relay victory, and set a new MVP record in the 50m Backstroke (29.84s). That's what I call meeting those high expectations.

Flying fast. 

Matthew was a rock for the 9-10 Gator boys. And by rock, I don't mean a sinking to the bottom of the pool kind of rock... rather a rock that can be depended on by everyone (you know, like a Chevy truck in those commercials with the Bob Seger song). And being a rock for the 9-10 boys means something around these parts, because if you read the previous blog entry, you know that the 9-10's were the Age Group of the Week with a terrific performance from the whole group. For Matthew's part, he swam to two victories in the individual events winning the Breast in 48.11 and the Fly in 17.04. And he kicked in for a relay victory in the 9-10 Medley, too. A pretty solid day's work. Rock solid.

High expectations create some pressure. Hard work creates results. It's the hard that makes it great. Great work and congratulations again to Cassidy and Matthew.

Go Gators.

Butterfly pictures are the best pictures.