Always Want It Better

Having been someone who swam the 50/100 freestyle throughout the entirety of my swimming career, I would have never guessed that I willingly would put myself through the longest day in endurance sports: An Ironman Triathlon. The event requires one to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a full marathon of 26.2 miles in under 17 hours.

As a novice to the sport, I did what I normally do when I indulge into a new hobby or activity: I fully submerge myself into it. I watch any videos I find that might help online, read every “10 Best ___” articles I come across and read any books that get recommended to me on the topic. During my research, I kept reading the name “Jan Frodeno” and how dominant he was. Not only did he win the gold medal in the men’s triathlon in 2008 (1500 meter swim, 50 k bike ride and 10 k run), he has also won 3 World Championships at the Half Ironman distance, and 3 World Championships at the full Ironman Distance. His most recent World Championship was in 2019 when the world saw him complete a 00:47:31 2.4 mile swim, 4:16:0 112 bike split, and a 2:42 marathon in the Kona heat to set a new course record of 07:51:13. He is head and shoulders above the rest of the world, and arguably the greatest triathlete ever because of the dominance that has spread across all distances.

In an interview during the heart of the Pandemic, Jan Frodeno is asked what exactly makes him so dominant. Jan reads a quote from The Hungarian water polo player Tibor Benedek (“the best left-hand player in the world”), with three Olympic titles, who won both a European Championship and World Championship as a player. Tibor describes himself in the following way – “I never had a particularly good ball sense, I never played football or basketball well, I didn’t throw particularly long shots with the ball, and I throw even shorter today. I’m not particularly strong or smart, I don’t swim too well, and my water level is completely average”. When he summed up the reason for his success, he would say: “I always wanted it better. That’s my talent!” Jan says that this quote describes how he has been able to continue to get faster, even in his early 40’s now. He has always wanted to keep improving, so he has found ways to do just that.

The most successful professionals and athletes in the world are the ones who continue to learn and continue to improve. If they have mastered one aspect of their field, they understand that there is something they can still be working on to improve. Even the fastest swimmer in the world today (Caeleb Dressel) is known for being overly critical of himself because he knows he can and should be getting better at every critical detail that goes into winning a gold medal. He dissects his 100 free from the Olympics in a video and he is by far his harshest critic. Most people would be content with being the best, but the great ones continue to grow and learn to find ways to consistently stay the best. 

Keep growing. Keep finding ways to improve. Keep wanting it better.

Go SMAC!

Julian