Conquering the Mile - The Mental Game

Three days into the 2025 New England Championships only a few races lay ahead of the exhausted athletes that have been competing tirelessly from 7am each morning to 8pm each night. One more mentally exhausting race stands out for some competitors. The 1,650 yard freestyle also known as "the mile" was yet to be competed. This is the longest distance event in swimming and it is held on the last day of a championship meet.

This article will deepen your knowledge into the difficulty associated with conquering the mile and what needs to be done when that mental block arises before the race. It is important to learn to overcome these mental challenges as they can change the course of your entire meet. I know that personally because I was already stressed out about this race during the finals session, the day before the race. This affected my swims that day and took a toll on my mental well being.

Rafael Nunes, a swimmer consistently performing at the top level of competition in backstroke and butterfly events was swimming the mile as a wild card race, it isn't even his strongest event. Rafael really emphasized the point that he was sore and his legs were beginning to cramp up before the race. He told us how having this race on the last day can hurt the athletes performance just because they are already so exhausted from the previous days of competition. This can really take a toll on an athlete. Preparation is key for one of these races. If you are sore it could lead to a false belief that you aren't prepared and that is the worst thought to have enter an athletes mind just hours before competition. Nunes told us that he instantly started combatting that soreness with extra stretches and warm-ups to prepare his body. This is a great solution. Nunes said that just moving and attempting to make his body feel good was relieving some mental pressure. 

Sophia Ma, a strong distance swimmer, was also swimming the mile. She is extremely experienced in the field of distance swimming but she to had to combat anxiety before the swim. Ma told us that her only expectation going into the mile was to swim with a good race strategy and have her race match her training. This is a great outlook because it forces a swimmer to only focus on their lane. It is more productive to spend time thinking about how you are going to swim instead of how others will do compared to you. Ma told us that the key to a successful race is confidence in yourself that you will perform well. This is a huge part of success in a distance race. You need to believe that you have done enough and are ready to race.  Sophia informed us about how she calms her anxiety with visualization. She told us about how imagines herself every stroke of the race and that helps her to focus into what she needs to do in order to be successful. 

Ethan Bushinsky, another established distance swimmer, spoke to our team about how he got through the looming mile. He started off by telling us that his training was the major part that got him through this race. When an athlete believes in their training there isn't much that can stand between them and success. This shows that Bushinsky already had a very strong grasp on pre-race anxiety. Even though Bushinsky was ready to perform he still had to persevere through a mental block. Ethan told us that he was completely exhausted and didn't want to swim the race. This could have been detrimental except for the fact that he knew what to do. Bushinsky realized that the only way out was to swim the race the best he could. Given that fact, all he had to do was get himself excited and clear his mind of anything that wasn't going to help him be successful. Ethan told us that in the end, he was extremely satisfied with how his race went.

Gabby Donnarummo, our final interviewee, spoke to us about what she did in order to succeed in this race. Gabby told us that the reason it was so hard to comprehend was the fact that it was on the last day and she was just ready to go home. She had already been competing all meet and this was the last thing that stood between her and the end of a long season. Gabby also said that another main reason for pre-race anxiety was she expected to do well. This is a problem for many athletes. They obsess about the fact that they want to do well and have to be able to set these expectations aside and swim for fun. Donnarummo said that in order to combat these nerves she focused on trying to not overwhelm herself and focus on the positive aspects of the race. She told us that she focused on the fact that she had put in the work and realize that the practices prior to the meet had prepared her and she was going to excel. She also said that she knew she was ready to go because it was the last mile of the season. These motivations can be huge to get through such a block. With a little motivation you can drive yourself past anything that arises and do it with success.

At this meet I personally struggled with a lot of the same challenges that you heard these athletes discuss. The hours leading up to the race I was having panic attacks and was struggling to prepare myself. I didn't really know how to get to the other side of this obstacle and that caused me to venture into uncharted territory just minutes before I had to compete. If someone is able to get through this type of a mental block they will have a huge advantage. I know that this hurt my performance in that race and I could have done much better if I had been able to better navigate these feelings.

The key to overcoming a mental challenge before an event is acknowledging the thought and then trying to do something with it. Whether you push it away, combat it or learn to embrace it is up to you. The strategies used by Nunes, Ma, Bushinsky and Donnarummo are excellent examples of how to overcome such adversity.