You’re standing behind the blocks, waiting for them to call you up. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the next swimmer over.

You do a double take. It’s the fastest swimmer in the competition.

As you step onto the blocks, you can’t help but watch them. They look cool and confident. For them, this looks like just another day of training.

Your heart sinks. There’s no way you can beat them. They’re in a different league. They’re on another level.

You take your position on the blocks, but you can’t get them out of your head. In your mind, you can already see your time below theirs on the scoreboard.

The horn sounds and you dive into the pool, but in reality the race is already over.

There’s always that one person. That one swimmer who’s faster than you.

When you go to a meet, you pray that you won’t get put into the same heat as them. When you end up in a final with them, you resign yourself to losing.

When you arrive at the meet, the first thing you do is check if they are there. If they aren’t, you breathe a sigh of relief. If they are, you’re filled with dread.

You can’t let them go. You can’t get them out of your head. Their existence is a curse on your soul. A malicious ghost that constantly haunts you.

You know it’s bad. You know it makes you swim slower. When they’re in your heat, your time tanks.

Your coach says that you look like a totally different swimmer whenever you’re up against them.

You try your best to put them aside. You try your best to get over them. But, you don’t know how.

How do you fix this? How do you get them out of your head? The answer is to learn to stay in your own lane mentally.

The minute your focus leaves your lane and goes to other swimmers, refocus yourself on the feel of what you are doing. It doesn’t matter if it’s picking up tempo, how much water you are pulling, or staying long, the important thing is to focus on something under your control.

If you do this enough it will become a habit, and you won’t have to think about it anymore.