Swimming VS Finals

In the war between swimming and finals, finals always win.  always.  Don't skimp on studying for an after practice nap or a doubles practice.  As your family probably says, "school comes first."  It's true.  Below are some of my tips for handling swimming during finals.

• School comes first.  You're not going to school for a degree in swimming, so spend your time studying and writing papers for the subjects you're earning credits for.
• Plan out which practices you're going to attend.  During finals week, some coaches offer a morning practice and afternoon practice.  Look at your finals schedule and plan out your swimming time around your studying time-- not the other way around.  If you have one final, go to one practice, but if you have two finals, don't go to any.  Spend that extra time studying.
• Don't put too much thought into it.  During finals, your brain is probably fried.  Put in a good practice, but don't fry your brain even more by trying to keep track of pace, stroke counts, heart rates, etc.
• Don't stress the small stuff.  Don't stress out if you're not making those 100's on 1:15, or if you're not decending a set of 50's.  Get in the pool to loosen up and stay in shape.  Spend your energy studying and putting the last touches on your final papers.

The main point of this blog post is that Finals come first.  Swimming has to take the back seat.  Most schools hold a certain GPA that students have to maintain in order to compete.  It wouldn't make sense to blow off studying- school costs too much money, and if you bomb your finals, you might not be able to swim regardless.

Go to a practice that works with your study schedule.  Study.  Study.  Do well on your papers and finals.  And after finals, you can relax by swimming fast, well, and swiftly. :)