The Untold Price of Distraction

What It Really Means To Swim Your Own Race

As a former swimmer, I can promise you there are few things more painful than a 200-metre butterfly race. Long before the final lap, your lungs are on fire. Your shoulders feel like they’ve been stabbed with daggers. Your legs feel like sacks of bricks.

My coach used to say “if you aren’t close to blacking out at the end of the 200 fly, you were either distracted, or not giving it your all.” What he meant was the mental focus matters as much as the physical effort.

The Olympics is the best place to see this philosophy at play. At Rio 2016, Michael Phelps went up against South African swimmer Chad Le Clos in this gruelling race. The stakes were high. Le Clos beat Phelps back in London 2012, and Phelps was fighting to reclaim the crown at his final Olympic Games.

The starting buzzer sounds.

Within the first third of the race, Phelps has a comfortable lead. Le Clos isn’t even in the top 3.

But the final lap of the race gives us this iconic moment, perfectly captured on camera for the rest …