Swimmer Mark Roach, 28, leading contender for the Summer Deaflympics gold next week, says his training was remarkably different to his global swimming career as a teen.
Roach, who flew to Tokyo on Monday, told Go! his swift decision to return to the international arena this year was informed by a sharp sense of personal athletic and intellectual progress in his life.
In an exclusive interview on Nahoon Beach, while his mom Joy and friends Mandy Uys and Taralyn Mclean had a dip, Mark said his “last-minute.com” qualification bid in July, saw him coming off a base of lifestyle cross-training — open water swimming, surf-ski paddling, dune and flat surface running.
He smashed the pool qualification times and, pointing to the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve and marine protected area, spoke of how grateful he felt about the fitness he built up “right here through my passion for the ocean”.
Instead of being part of a formal training programme, he turned to artificial intelligence (AI) and crafted a training schedule suited to his goals and personal state.
He fed AI his training data and at first it churned out a plan which was “biased towards a more relaxed” approach. So he gave the algorithm a stern talking to — “I corrected it more than once” — and got the response he felt was right for him.
“I had to remind it that we needed to be at this level (of excellence) and we needed to get it together,” he said.
He will be bidding for positions in the freestyle 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m and 200m relay. “I am feeling stronger than ever. I have never enjoyed training as much as I have this time.”
The external pressure has gone and all motivation and growth has come “from within”.
“My lifestyle had shifted. I needed to stop worrying about the future. This gave me a sense of stability and allowed me to focus without any additional worries. It made training more joyful in every aspect of my life.”
This absence of stress made him feel it has been more “about the journey” than the destination and so win or lose, “I will be happy. I know I will have given it my best.”
The new training effort was so enjoyable he developed a new perspective. “I see swimming through new eyes.”
He will “push for gold” with every molecule of his being, but feels his new mindset will mean he is not vulnerable to post-performance depression, a common trap for top athletes.
He also took time in the week to be still, concentrate on his breathing and cleared his mind of “ego issues”.
“I just sit or lie there and see what thoughts present and maybe see from a new perspective.”
This process, no different to surfers sitting on their boards for hours waiting for waves, is a form of sporting meditation where the mindset is more dispassionate, and the overview spectacular.
“I give myself space to listen to my mind and see what it feels rather than telling it what to do.”
As he jets across the world in a calm and premeditative state, his heart rate will be resting at an astounding 40 beats per minute, ready to roar up to 180bpm in the pool.
