Yeah! We're now benchmarking your times with several records. We currently have a few record sets in our database, but we have capacity for many more, including club, provincial, national and world records.
In general, records are more challenging to beat than time standards. They basically mean the fastest times swimmers ever got in a particular context, like a club, a meet, a country, or even worldwide. But that's not a reason to be afraid to pursue them. It is actually good to be aware of them and see your personal times slowly bridging the gap.
Will you ever beat a record? Nobody knows, but records are certainly a reference mark to what can be achieved. Some records last long periods, but they are eventually broken multiple times by different people. So, rest assured that records are not impossible when you are determined to break them.
Discipline, consistency, and mental toughness are common among record-breakers. You will have to:
- eat well, getting processed food out of your diet
- sleep well, with fixed times to go to bed and wake up
- religiously show up for practice, independent of your mood
You will have to focus first on swimming right prior to swimming fast. When your muscle memory sustains your movements for longer without you even thinking about them, speed comes in to rock your goals. Last but not least, remember your mind is constantly trying to protect you from risks, making you hungry and tired, way before your body needs fuel and is still far from exhaustion. So, when you push beyond what you believed was your maximum, you may discover a world of possibilities.
The most important lesson from chasing a record, whether you break it or not, is what you learn about yourself along the way, taking this with you for everything else throughout your whole life.
