Blog
Sacrifice
By now, we all know my background in the world of swimming. One thing I was always confused about as an athlete was friends, family and strangers alike telling me that I “must have sacrificed so much” to get where I am.
Initially I always replied with yes, because I’d heard the references to how much elite athletes must sacrifice to win. But I didn’t really understand what these people were saying. I didn’t really believe I’d sacrificed anything. After many more years of training, and as an elite athlete, I was more aware of what people were asking. My answer changed and I was confident in the fact that I hadn’t sacrificed a single thing to get to where I was. Let me explain.
When I was younger, swimming was easy. It was factored into the week as a hobby but not much planning went into the variables that could influence performance. There was little regard towards nutrition. I ate when I was hungry, and it didn’t really matter what that food was. “Good” food wasn’t sought after. “Bad” food wasn’t avoided. It didn’t really matter so long as I was eating enough for general health and development. Sleep was also not monitored. I was young and had a set bed-time in line with being a child who had school and a hobby that made me tired. Training was a few times per week and maybe a weekend session, but there was still plenty of time to play outside with friends and my older sister. It was a normal childhood, inclusive of sport.
The more I transitioned from swimming being a hobby to a sport, the variables of performance were more apparent. By the time I was in secondary school, I was training three sessions across a weekend. Once on a Saturday and twice on a Sunday. This is when the conversations around sacrifice began. I was sacrificing time with friends on a weekend to have to go swimming. I found this a strange way to present the situation. Nobody was forcing me to go to these sessions. The training was very optional. The outcome of doing the training was the thing I wanted. I wanted to get better, swim faster and become stronger and so I chose to attend the sessions on a weekend.
I became more aware of nutrition and the impact it had on my energy levels. Fuelling correctly before and after sessions, inclusive of a weekend, was important to me, so much so that I took a packed lunch into school, which was not considered a cool thing to do in my school. This meant no more pizza, school cake and sugary drinks for lunch. My friends were on board with this decision, and they all brought in packed lunches in support of my goals. I wanted to get better, swim faster and become stronger so I chose to have better nutrition.
During school holidays, training continued. Summer holidays were centred around British Nationals in Ponds Forge Sheffield. My mum and I would travel for the week and leave my sister at home with no summer plans and no trips away unless she wanted to attend a swimming competition in England for a week. Everyone told me about the sacrifice of not getting to go abroad for summer. I agreed it was a shame but if I was given the option of a holiday or a National Competition, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the National Competition every time.
All the alleged sacrifices I made were ultimately choices that I willingly made in the pursuit of my goals. Swimming wasn’t something that was forced upon me and I would make the same choices again. However, whilst I willingly made the choices that were in my control, a lot of sacrifices were made to support my swimming.
My family sacrificed a lot. My mum financed swimming in my youth years. Paying for training fees, competition fees, training camps, hotels, equipment, petrol, food, physio, the list goes on. My sister got a job as a swim teacher when she was 16years old. Most of the salary she received for this went to support my swimming instead of her own lifestyle. My sister never got to have a summer holiday, at home or abroad. We couldn’t afford it and didn’t have the time or energy following Summer Nationals.
My friends sacrificed a lot. They changed plans around when I was free. They helped make bringing a packed lunch to school more enjoyable than dorky, they joined me in my lunchtime circuit training, and they came into school early to meet me as I got dropped off very early after morning training sessions before school started. Of course they didn’t have to do any of this, but they were willing to support me in the pursuit of my goals. My coaches sacrificed a lot. They got up early in the morning and stayed late into the evening coaching and supporting me. They gave up their weekends with family and friends for training and attending competitions. They paid to come to competitions and gave up summer breaks.
Typically, in Britain, coaching is often a part-time job, and therefore coaches work a second job to support their families and lifestyle. They gave their time and energy to provide me the opportunities to be successful.
As I mentioned at the start, when I was younger neither I nor other people saw or understood the sacrifices that were being made. They simply saw the fact that I didn’t have a typical childhood and assumed I was sacrificing so much to be an athlete. But what people didn’t understand was I didn’t want to be an average child. I wanted to become an elite athlete. And so, I did what I needed to make this a reality. The sacrifices were made by all the people who supported me in achieving this.
Thank you to everyone who sacrifices their time, effort ,and money in support of helping someone else achieve a dream.