There are several shelves of free weights in the pool equipment room. Before our Swimming with Intention series began, two swimmers helped me transform them into something new. With a pink ribbon, we tied specific focus words to each 5 and 7.5lb weight. These became our series touchstones—visual reminders that mindfulness isn’t another thing we add to our swimming. It is a way to swim.
To start each practice, swimmers chose one to bring to the pool. Throughout the series, those touchstones—and our time together—taught us five key lessons:
1. Start with intention. Intention can be simple: a single word, a dedication, one key idea. Our touchstones included joy, grace, peace, strength, connection, courage, gratitude, love, effort, kindness, friendship, wonder, curiosity, play, delight, gentleness, rhythm, letting go, progress, appreciation, hope, and adventure. Sometimes choosing what we wanted to carry into the pool was enough to change our swim.
2. To choose well, you have to listen well. Swimmers laughed when I reminded them to “make good choices.” But making good choices means paying attention: What do I need? What does my body need to have the best possible swim for me in this moment? The strongest choice isn’t always the hardest one.
3. The practice is staying present. Presence takes practice. We built from 10 minute mindful swims to 15 minutes, and finally 30 continuous minutes. Along the way, we swam farther practices, with many swimmers setting new personal distance records. We learned to return our attention to three things: breath, body, rhythm.
4. Rest doesn’t have to mean stopping. We practiced active rest and joyful rest—kicking, pulling, floating, changing strokes, slowing down, and connecting with a teammate. Sometimes what serves us best is making a different choice.
5. We are for each other. Swimming may be individual, but our team matters. This month, we welcomed sevearl new swimmers and celebrated success stories beyond our practice pool. Four of our swimmers, Mary Bean, Addie Scoggin, Paula Rawlings, and Gretta Cohoon competed together at the Tri Clear Lake Triathlon. Week after week, we showed up, shared lanes, cheered, laughed, challenged ourselves, and celebrated one another.
Cooler weather, shorter days, and indoor practices are coming. The weights might stay in the equipment room for now, but the practice continues: Choose an intention. Listen well. Stay present. Adapt for what you need. Be for each other.
Our swim ground rules: We are for strength, challenge, and each other aren’t just words. At Coach Kat’s Cove they are who we are and how we swim.
