We have all heard about resilience and how it is essential to succeed, but this has been extended by Nassim Taleb to not just withstand pressure but to celebrate it and learn from it.
As an athlete, each learning outcome is a 100th of a second off his PB, so why would Jamie Ingram not seek them out and welcome the lessons?
Here is how Jamie celebrates antifragility.
Antifragility is the ability to not just withstand stress and adversity, but to thrive in the face of them.
Jamie said, “As a swimmer, I must regularly deal with a range of challenges, such as injuries, tough competition, and intense training schedules.”
“But instead of seeing these as obstacles to overcome, I’ve learned to see them as opportunities to become stronger, more resilient, and therefore a better athlete.”
He continued, “I have the opportunity to practise antifragility every day in training. The sessions are written by the coach in such a way that they are difficult to complete, even for us as elite athletes.
“This challenges us to find a way to maintain effort, time, skills, and technique despite the exhaustion we feel. It is possible to do this by developing mastery over your mind and by having a bigger goal that every length of every session is working towards. One of the reasons goal setting, with aims that really light a fire inside you, is so important.”
Adversity also comes in the form of poor racing performances, especially at a big competition where the swimmers are expected to swim fast.
Jamie expressed, “I’ve experienced this a few times in my swimming career, the freshest in my mind being at the British Championships in 2016 (when I was 18) and again in 2019 (at 21). In 2016, I tried to get a place on the European Junior Team but failed.
“In 2019, I didn’t even make the final. Both occasions were incredibly disappointing, but I was able to use that to learn and improve and swim personal bests at the Summer National Championships a few months later, winning the juniors in 2016 and coming 7th in the Open in 2019.”
He continues, “Without the antifragility mindset, it would be very easy to get dissuaded by the sport, and it’s unlikely that I would still be swimming now- missing out on the success I’ve achieved since.”
Jamie shares his experience with pain management: “As a squad at the City of Manchester, we’ve had the privilege of working with Dr Bruce Lawrie, a clinical psychologist. One of the main areas he spoke to us about was pain management.
“Pain is something everyone in that race will feel, especially coming into the finish, and it’s the person that can deal with it the best that will get to the wall first. Dr. Bruce spoke about treating the pain as an opportunity: i.e., embrace the pain because that is what we have practised for, and when the pain comes, that is when we will make the most gains over our opponents and win the race. We can thrive in this scenario because of the antifragility mindset we have cultivated in the months leading up to the big race.”
Jamie then goes on to explain that injury is the final aspect of extreme stress for swimmers and any athlete.
He said, “I have an ongoing lower back problem that has been affecting my swimming since around April 2018. The result is that I see a chiropractor regularly and do a lot of core, glute, and hip stability exercises to remain relatively pain-free. These extra exercises actually benefit my swimming in the water—even more so than just helping my back and have helped me to keep swimming faster.
“A good friend of mine broke his collarbone and was unable to swim for a few months. However, he was still able to kick (with his arms resting by his side), and so that’s what he did. Rather than sit out there feeling sorry for himself, he made his kick and underwater speed a strength so that when he was able to swim again, he had a new weapon ready to unleash. He started racing faster than ever and won a British title in the 50m backstroke the next year!”
In conclusion, antifragility is an important skill to develop in life as a professional athlete in order to achieve goals, and a skill that is able to be practised every day.