Keys to Success: Margaret Hoelzer

Keys to Success, with 2008 Olympic medalist Margaret Hoelzer

1. Have fun. I think people start doing a sport because they love it. Keeping it fun and keeping that love alive is extremely important because otherwise, you will ultimately hate it and you will quit. There’s a mistaken idea out there that if you are successful at something you will enjoy it. I think it’s the other way around – if you enjoy it, you will be successful.

2. Keep perspective. Swimming is not who we are. Rather, it is what we do. It’s a part of us, but it doesn’t define us completely. Fear and pressure – all of that is derived from perspective being lost or things getting blown out of proportion. There are a lot of worse things in life than not winning a race or not making the Olympic Team. Get rid of these external negative things that eat away at your confidence.

3. Be open to change. This means knowing yourself and being able to accept that life is about change. You have to know your priorities and what is best for you. That constitutes knowing when you need to make a change and when something is not working. You can’t be afraid to try something different, like when your coach suggests trying something a new way. It might also mean keeping something the same regardless of what people around you are telling you – not making a change when a change isn’t warranted.

4. Take ownership. Life is a continuous learning process. You never completely know everything, not even about yourself. But as you get older, you should be getting more in tune with yourself. You are a work in progress. You have to take ownership of what you do know. Swimmers get lost out there sometimes. They’ll say things like, “I don’t know that much.” If you know how to swim at all, you know something. Take ownership of the things you know, but also take ownership of the fact that you don’t know everything, and keep learning from informed sources.

5. Be open to evolving. The sport is continuing to evolve, and we have to, as people and as swimmers, evolve. Some of that is technique changes. Even Michael Phelps is changing his stroke. If you want to get better, sometimes you have to evolve and develop new strengths or new techniques. Michael Phelps can get better, and not just in freestyle. If he wants to beat his best times in his other events, he’ll have to get better in those events, too. In my event, some of the best backstrokers in the world had a shallow catch, then they all had a deep catch. You have to keep an open mind toward change. Even the best in the world are constantly trying to get better.