Belief In All

At the end of Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille, secondary antagonist Anton Ego realizes the meaning of Chef Gusteau’s famous motto, “anyone can cook.” Previously disdainful of the idea, Ego comes to understand that while not everyone will become a great artist (in this case a great chef), a great artist can come from anywhere. This means that everyone, regardless of circumstance or perceived talent, deserves to have their dreams nurtured and their full potential cultivated. Left unspoken but profoundly important, I think, is that whether someone becomes a great chef is almost irrelevant because it is the pursuit and the process you follow that matters.

With that, we come to the third pillar of the Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club: BELIEF IN ALL.

The philosophy behind SMAC’s “belief in all” is the philosophy behind Gusteau’s motto. Every athlete deserves to have their dreams nurtured and their potential cultivated. To do that, the coaching staff works hard with every swimmer to 1) teach that the goal is becoming the best version of themselves they can, 2) let them know that they define the term “best version of themselves” and that the definition can change at any time, 3) encourage each athlete to see the best in themselves, 4) support the athlete’s pursuit of their vision, and 5) impart that it is the process of improvement that is most important. By taking these steps every SMAC athlete contributes positively to team’s collective legacy (another pillar that we have previously discussed) and to their teammates’ pursuit of their own full potential. Because an important concept that swimmers at SMAC recognize is that our actions do not just impact ourselves.

This is a lesson that has been reinforced over the past year as we have all needed to take precautionary steps to not only protect ourselves, and others, from getting sick but also to guard the team’s opportunities to train and compete. But it does not just apply in the case of public health. We do not improve as a swimmer in a vacuum; our teammates contribute to our successes just as we contribute to theirs and every time you see a SMAC swimmer standing on the podium their teammates are standing with them.  For this reason, the SMAC coaching staff is invested in cultivating the potential of every athlete because the athlete’s biggest contribution to the team is their pursuit of the best version of themselves and their dedication to the process.

While not every athlete will win a gold medal, every athlete can dedicate themselves to the pursuit of their vision for the best version of themselves and the process they follow to get there. And as we observed from Anton Ego’s climactic realization:

It is the pursuit and the process that matters.

Go SMAC!