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In both open water swimming and pool racing, emotions can have both positive and negative effects on performance. In the pool, emotional reactions mainly involve success or failure defined by achieving a certain time or place in a given race. In open water, emotions can manifest as doubt in one’s ability to complete a task and also as a factor of the many hours put into training. Open water swimmers “have to be comfortable with themselves, and find inner resolve and a will to continue when things seem impossible,” Cox says. In this way, swimmers can use their emotions to help them get through the roughest parts of their swims. Just as emotions can help swimmers, Christie also cautions that, “Rapid emotions can ruin even the most prepared swimmer.
