Full Definition of ANTHROPOLOGY

1:  the science of human beings; especially:  the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture

Competitive swimming human beings, aka competitive swimmers, have evolved over the centuries into four sub groups:

1 – Those who love to race and train and therefore race and train well

2 – Those who love to race but do not love to train and therefore do not race well

3 – Those who love to train but do not love to race and therefore do not race well

4 – Those who love being called competitive swimmers but who neither train nor race well

Competitive swimming coaches, aka swimming coaches, have similarly evolved over the centuries into two sub groups:

1 – Those who foster and therefore acquire competitive swimmers from sub group 1

2 – All the others

Interestingly, studies of human behavior reveal that humans want two things simultaneously. They want to be part of a larger group while being recognized for their individual presence.

Competitive swimmers want to be part of the team while being recognized for their individual accomplishments.

Being part of the team is not as easy as it sounds. It requires that you select the team based upon which of the four subgroups it identifies itself with making certain it matches your identity.

If the team is a group 1 but you are a different group then one of two things happens:

A – You are miserable since you cannot find a “space” in which you fit; meaning you don’t love to train and/or race so you cannot be part of the larger group AND your lack of desire makes you feel uncomfortable because your individual accomplishments are unrecognizable.

B – You find yourself transformed by the energy of the group AND eventually figure out how to distinguish yourself individually.

Those coaches who have a clearly defined and readily declared statement of their team’s culture make it easier for swimmers to find them. When their team is out in public – i.e. at competitive meets – the swimmers and coaches become beacons of light, clearly illuminating their existing culture. The results of the individuals and the team pretty much take care of themselves…

Or so it seems to us…Happy New Year to all!