“Access to Success is Thru the Mind!”: Our AquaChamps Philosophy
Every successful business is informed by a mission and a set of core values—or a philosophy. The Greeks defined philosophy, or “philosophia”, as the “love of wisdom”. Philosophy can be both abstract and concrete. Concrete philosophy informs one how to live a good and happy life. Our philosophy at AquaChamps is concrete and is centered around building champions in and out of the water. It is concisely expressed by Coach Jack Nelson’s famous mantra: “Access to success is thru the mind.” This phrase can mean that achieving success requires the application of certain mental faculties such as focus and displaying certain attributes such as belief in oneself. For Coach Nelson, success is “whatever makes you happy and fulfilled” and a positive self-image is critical for achieving it. He defined self-image as “the accumulation of all the attitudes and opinions I have received about myself since birth.” He also thought of it as malleable, and so the key to success both in and outside of the pool was developing an image of oneself as in control of, and responsible for, one’s life.
Many of our swimmers, both young and young-at-heart, encounter many challenges in life. One of the many benefits of learning to swim is that it provides an opportunity to develop confidence in one’s ability to succeed because it can be challenging. Coaches and parents can help swimmers develop a positive self-image through reinforcement. For example, we can encourage them to use affirmations such as “I’m a swimmer!” or “I did it!” Coach Nelson believed visualization was also a powerful tool. When swimmers face a challenge like doing a butterfly kick, they can be encouraged to “swim like a dolphin” or “swim like a mermaid” to focus their attention and feel motivated by getting them to see themselves performing the skill. Developing such skills is a process and it requires an image of oneself as capable.
Sometimes these and other challenges may present themselves as “too hard”. For instance, many struggle with rolling over from their bellies to their backs. However, by believing in themselves, swimmers can rise to the occasion by using those challenges to become better. Rather than giving up, they can say “I can do it!” This is where parental encouragement is key. It might require at least several attempts and failure may seem inevitable. However, no one who is successful has ever gone without failing. What makes someone successful is what they do in the face of failure. They choose to become more.
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American Academy of Pediatrics and Learning to Swim
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