Remembering laps while swimming has presented some interesting challenges.
Beyond the basics, like trying to get my swim cap and goggles to stay on, I struggle to remember what lap I’m on during a long swim.
I know it sounds funny, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one with this issue.
Say you’ve been swimming for 20 minutes, and you are trying your best to implement those smooth swimming skills.
Suddenly you think, “wait is this lap 22 or 25?”
So lame. And I have to be honest, this happened to me more than a few times.
Finally turned to Google for help and found some great advice:
Instead of numbers, think of letters.
You are far more likely to remember you are swimming the lap for V instead of 22.
So I tried it and it worked better than counting. While I didn’t get as messed up, sometimes it was hard to remember if I was pushing off for lap M or N.
But I love a good memory trick, so I stuck with my letters – with a twist. I started thinking of words for the letter I was on.
So lap “K” became:
Kick
Kit
Kite
I found I could still focus on my technique while my mind came up with the words. Even better, no more lap confusion.
Trust me, after 50 meters of coming up with every “K” word you can possibly think of at 5:45 a.m., you are ready to go onto “L”.
But last week I came up with my favorite trick of all.
I think of positive words and phrases instead of any random word in the English language.
For example, if I am on “H” I find myself thinking:
“Happy”
“Have a positive attitude”
“Hopeful”
“Have the belief you can do this”
“Have endless drive at accomplishing your goals”
It may sound crazy, but I’ve found it the easiest of all the things I’ve tried. Plus I love it.
It’s a flood of positive thoughts for those 30 or so minutes I’m in the pool.
It’s also reframed how I feel about my laps. It feels like positive meditation time. Not a “please let me get through this” time.
Maybe it’s my own version of the Michael Phelps game face?
All I know is I get out of the pool feeling like a million bucks.
Hey Michael, if you’re reading, feel free to give my little trick a try!
