Start Fast, Finish Faster - Physical & Mental Preparation

Hello readers, today I am super excited to share my reflections from my 2025-2026 swimming seasons. Both of these seasons were an emotional, mental, and physical rollercoaster. I would like to share how I mentally prepared for each season and how that affected my performances at meets.

During the fall/winter season, I had a greater chance of achieving goals I thought were out of reach in previous seasons. If you haven’t read my blog about my short course reflection, check it out! https://www.hanikachhajer.com/2026/04/laps-lessons.html. At the beginning of the season, I experienced some physical challenges that led to a decrease in my mental toughness. It took me a month to physically and mentally recover. As the season progressed, I took my physical routine more seriously. However, I paid little attention to mental preparation. Occasionally, I visualized my races and thought about strategies during the week of a meet. Looking back, I wish I had understood earlier how important mental preparation is. 

For example, in January, I had two important meets on back-to-back weekends. I was very focused for the first meet, mentally preparing myself for anything that could go wrong. Whenever I got bored at school, I visualized my races. That paid off because my times improved, and I was closer to achieving my goals for the season. The following weekend, however, I relaxed after a good meet and took things lightly. Overconfidence started to take over, and I didn’t mentally prepare myself for the results I wanted. As the saying goes, there are consequences for every action. This led to a decrease in my mental resilience because I wasn’t prepared. After that meet, I was sad and frustrated because I hadn’t achieved my cuts, while my teammates had. The quote, “Yesterday’s failure leads to tomorrow’s success,” really connected with me and motivated me to improve. I wrote down strategies for the two events I was competing in on a Google document, and it paid off because I achieved my goals. 

In the end, I realized that any athlete can have all the physical strength in the world, but that alone doesn’t make you the best. The athletes who rise to the top are the ones with “muscles of steel”—strong both physically and mentally.

At the beginning of the summer season, I knew I would move up to the next age group toward the end of the season. I told myself I would work toward meeting the time standards for that age group. I participated in fewer meets than the previous season. As summer approached, my friends moved to a different group, but I hadn’t moved along with them. I realized that I wasn’t training to my full potential, and my performances reflected that. I decided to push through any obstacles, even if I kept falling down. I changed my training routines and my mindset. I wrote down strategies for my upcoming races, visualized them, and focused on both physical and mental preparation.

There were times I felt I wasn’t making progress, but my parents’ support and guidance kept me motivated to become the best version of myself. My dad shared a helpful write up from a book called “Winning Ugly” with me. This writeup was summarized by his friend, Ryan lingo: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kh2f3BJ7cRMhX9kXIg9UQhSCLTXfuDOlXHi83Fh0fdk/edit?tab=t.0. This way of thinking truly changed my perspective on swimming, and I highly recommend reading it! 

I proved myself at the second meet of the summer, and I was proud of myself. However, my parents and I reminded myself that I need to carry this motivation into the upcoming regionals and not let overconfidence take over. Starting at the end of June, I mentally prepared myself for the challenges ahead. I was moving into the next age group the day before regionals began, and I made sure I was physically and mentally ready. My performance at regionals went well; I managed my emotions despite the curveballs thrown my way. Still, I know I could have done better—specifically, I need to build more endurance and resilience to maintain a certain speed for longer periods.

In conclusion, I’ve learned many important lessons over these past two seasons. I will continue to push myself toward my goals while having fun and appreciating all that I’ve experienced and learned. I can’t wait to get back in the water! I would also like to give a special thanks to my parents for the 200% they put into the sport I love doing. Without all their support and guidance I would have never become the person I am today. Thank you Mom and Dad for everything you do for me and I will return that 200% very soon! 

I would love to hear your feedback and comments. Please reach out to me@hanikachhajer.com. 

Happy Summer!