Yes, I am a swimming geek.
I have been astounded by Leon Marchand’s 4 gold-medals-run in Paris, including the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke wins on the same day, within a span of 2 hours.
I mean, really.
While I am proud of my own distance lap swimming, I never performed anywhere close to the championship level of a Leon Marchand. I am struck, however, by the mental work Marchand did to be able to perform in his elite realm. And this very same mental work is available to you and me, as well.
In her compelling New York Times background story on Marchand, Jenny Vrentas describes what transformed his life path after he won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Junior championships and set a French record (The French Swimmer Who Is Carrying His Country on His Back, NY Times, 07/27/2024)
Facing a crossroads, Marchand made two decisions: He began to work with a mental trainer to address the nervousness that he felt was holding him back. And he sent a cold email to a coach he thought might be able to guide him to the top.
That coach was Bob Bowman, a man who had plenty of experience with the Olympics and high expectations: He had coached Phelps for all 28 of his Olympic medals.
Feelings come and go like clouds in the sky, conscious breathing is my anchor.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Chasing Bob Bowman strikes me as the obvious if gutsy part. I admire Marchand for also understanding the importance of the mental game.
In the months after setting his first French record, Vrentas elaborates, and before he reached out to Bowman, Marchand said he began experiencing stress and nervousness before meets. In the spring of 2020, he began working with Thomas Sammut, a mental performance coach for the Olympic sprint champion Florent Manaudou and other top French athletes. Sammut said Marchand told him that he felt as if he was swimming in fear of performing poorly.
Marchand feared that performing at his elite level meant living with this constant fear of poor performance. Sammut showed him there was another way.
These are an athlete’s tools. There are tools for anyone who wishes to excel at a chosen pursuit. Here’s the work Sammut did with Marchand.
Sammut taught Marchand breathing exercises to focus himself before races and to calm himself before bedtime.
You and me: Focus on breathing redirects our mental chatter toward a very specific task. Not only do we receive the calming benefits of greater oxygenation (obvious, I trust), we relax into the benefits of a simple and clear mental focus. There are many other ways to redirect mental focus – I urge you to integrate more of Sammut’s very basic guidance into your daily routine. Especially in times of high stress.
Stop, breathe. Stop, breathe.
Instead of swimming in pursuit of results, Sammut helped Marchand switch his outlook to seeking professional and professional happiness through a sport that challenged him.
You and me: Instead of being over-focused on the must-have job promotion, new professional opportunity, the next big deal, trust that you may get there faster by plumbing the rewards and joys of what you are currently doing. Full absorption in the here and now may ironically propel you forward faster than any dogged chase of your next career milestone.
It will most certainly make present-moment-activities more deeply enjoyable.
When you train with Michael Phelps’s coach, it is near impossible to not compare yourself to Phelps. Sammut helped Marchand understand that his path, his style would be different from that of Michael Phelps. And, at the same time, when Marchand was struggling with his warm-up practices, Bowman taught him Phelps’s warm routine which Marchand has practiced ever since.
You and me: Learn from the habits of those you admire. Study their practices. Integrate what makes sense to you. But let go of any notion that your journey in life will need to match theirs. That your success should look like their success – or your interpretation of what you see as their success.
When we compare ourselves to “successful people,” it is easy for us to fall short. When we fully commit to playing our game, the need to compare diminishes.
Sammut’s guidance is classic. It is timeless. And it transcends the requirements of athletic competition.
Focus on breath. Happiness. And compare less.
Let us all incorporate a little more of this playbook, shall we!
