Music is an instrumental part of most swimmers\u2019 lives. Sometimes it\u2019s your favourite song pumping you up before a race. Other times it may be a catchy rhythm that gets stuck in your head throughout the entire workout, or music blasting on the pool deck speakers to get you through the boredom of long kick sets. Whatever the reason, music can often be helpful for athletes. Certain songs also, incidentally, manage to capture the exact sentiments of how a swimmer is feeling. In fact, the popular song titles that you may absentmindedly sing along to can describe an entire swim practice.<\/p>\n
1. \u201cWork\u201d – Rihanna feat. Drake.<\/strong> While we may all have different reasons for loving the sport, or different goals motivating us to train, we all show up for the same thing – to put in work. Although it may be hard to wake up for early mornings, or to push yourself to go train after a long day, the reality is that showing up to the locker room means making a decision to put in effort and make the day count towards your ambitions.<\/p>\n 2. \u201cSlow down\u201d – Selena Gomez.<\/strong> Once you\u2019re on deck, though, it is sometimes a completely different story. Although you may have showed up prepared to work hard, it is often difficult to maintain that positive attitude if you walk in only to see an extremely tough practice written on the chalk board. It always seems to be in these instances that time speeds up. Despite your silent prayers for just a few more minutes of mental preparation on deck, or to complain with team mates about the great injustices of being an athlete, the clock races forward and it is soon time to dive into the water.<\/p>\n 3. \u201cNo air\u201d – Jordan Sparks.<\/strong> When practice has begun and the quick pace times start adding up, every short interval spent at the wall is used for heavy breathing. In a sport like swimming which is a largely cardiovascular exercise, oxygen can be hard to come by\u2026 especially considering the basis of being a swimmer means agreeing to spend copious amounts of time practically submerged underwater. In fact, swimming is one of the only sports (aside from perhaps synchronized swimming) where you can get yelled at by a coach for breathing too much if it disrupts your speed in a race.<\/p>\n