by Each December, my old club would host a big taper meet. When I was 15, I remember a teammate of mine created a facebook even inviting all his non-swimmer friends to come to watch him break the 100 freestyle record.
The balls of this guy…..
In addition to his massive nuts he was also a popular guy so about twenty people came out to the meet.
JUST TO WATCH HIM SWIM THIS ONE EVENT.
Talk about pressure…
Anyways he went a best time by about half a second and broke the record.
The reason I tell this epic story is because I believe there is much to be gained from it.
Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.
It was first discovered when Hawthorne Works Electric Company in Cicero Illinois ran an experiment to test whether lighting changes in the workplace would improve productivity. The result was that increasing the lighting improves the workplace productivity. However decreasing the lighting also increased productivity. Later it was found that the improvements in productivity were independent of the lighting and were caused because the workers were being observed.
Lansdberger defined the Hawthorne effect as a short-term improvement in performance caused by observing workers.
I believe my teammate was able to utilize the Hawthorne effect to his advantage. Who knows.. maybe without the Facebook event he wouldn’t have broken the record..
How can swimmers benefit from this?
Theoretically, you could do the same thing and create a Facebook event for your next taper meet. However that seems a little excessive and the extra pressure might not be effective for everyone. I do think it could be useful in the weight room. Have team-mates watch you lift, maybe even bet money or dinner (if it’s legal) that you can complete the reps. If you can’t find anyone I find that even a camera is helpful. I record my lifts. It also has the benefit that you can watch the clip and check your form.