Setting goals is a skill. To help swimmers reach them you need to create a realistic plan based on where they are now. Saying they want to get a medal or make a final isn’t enough. This won’t help you or them judge their goals, as you don’t really know who they are up against. Always advise swimmers to go for a goal within their control.

Pressure can come from so many places. It could be from peers or the inner fear that today a PB is not happening. It may not be race day anxiety at all, but the pressure of constant training. Knowing where pressure comes from is the key to supporting and strengthening athletes. A little extra advice on realistic goal setting is often a good starting point.

Resilience is less about the physical strength and more about mental strength. It comes from knowing to let go of what’s beyond control. The ability to bounce back and give a 100% time and again, also really helps develop resilience. Instill these values and your swimmers are already one stroke closer to their goal.

Really this comes down to having open conversations all around. Clicking on Motivation, Goal setting and Getting along with adults could be pretty useful here.

You can be sure that all swimmers will hit a plateau. Encourage  the swimmers you work with to take a breath and look around them. Alex Popov, one of the greatest sprinters ever, went fifteen years without a PB. It's all about working hard while making sure swimming is still fun then the PB’s will come.