How to achieve my Olympic dreams?

Question

Hi, I am a 13 year old girl from the USA. I have a huge dream of being an Olympic swimmer. I am a pretty good, fast, swimmer, but I was wondering if there are any ways to achieve this huge, meaningful dream of mine. Any help is always appreciated!

Answer 1

just believe in your self

Answer 2

You'll need to find a trainer or a swim club that knows how to train a young person for the Olympics. Ask the swim coach at your school or the high school in your area for the name of a trainer or swim club. It is a very hard training program, if done correctly. Good luck!! : )

Answer 3

Kaytiee,

You're already on your way. To achieve your goals you have to have dreams. But even more so you have to be able to commit to them. To make the Olympics is a big commitment and takes years of dedication and hard work. Most Olympians pretty much are so focused on their goal of making the Olympics they have to give up everything else.

I pursued my dream for 12 years. I spent 11 practices (2 hours each) in the pool, 6 early morning stretch sessions and 4 early morning dryland (weight training) sessions a week to achieve my goal of swimming in the Olympics. Like most athletes I came up short. The highest I achieved was one National record and an Olympic Trials qualifying time.

At 13 years old and with the experience you have you are well on your way. Remember there are only two spots per event on the US Olympic team (6 for free relays) and therefore the competition is tough. You need to practice harder and smarter than all the other that want that spot too. Having natural ability and timing doesn't hurt either.

Having a team and a coach that you 'click' well with and love is helpful as it will be a motivator to get you to the pool. Plus it's a lot easy to accomplish things when you love them.

It sounds like you already have a team and a coach that you work under but if you need suggestions I may have contacts in your area that I can recommend. Let me know.

Good luck, have fun, and don't be afraid to make lofty goals.

Answer 4

keep on keeping on lol or never give up