Blog guest: Andrea Basaraba

She has been part of the Serbian national team since 2007 and former Serbian national records holder in the middle and long distance freestyle events, 200m IM and still record holder on 200m backstroke. She competed at the 2010 European Junior Championships, where she was sixth in the 200m back, and was also a 2010 Mediterranean Games finalist. Her name is Andrea Basaraba. She is a graduate of the Yale Law School.

As a Swimming Dad #Blog guest, Andrea explains what swimming sport teaching us and how can help us in real life!

What has swimming “taught“ you? What would be your answer to this question made by a future swimmer?

From swimming, I learned the importance of both discipline and perseverance at a young age. I don’t think that I would have learned those things so young otherwise and I have tried to carry the attitude I learned from swimming with me into my post-swimming career.

What’s the “swimming virtue” you use today, when you are not in the pool?

In many ways, the rest of life resembles swimming. If you put your head down and work hard - and get a little lucky at times - you will see results.

Another one of the lessons I took away from swimming was the importance of goal setting. Having a clear goal in the pool was really important for figuring out goal times and paces in practice. Though much of the rest of life is significantly less mathematical or precise, setting goals is just as important for me now as it was back then. It keeps me focused and motivated.

I think many swimmers take their drive, passion, and commitment from the pool and apply it to the rest of their careers afterwards. This sets us apart.

What are the things you can do in life when you know how to swim?

I don’t think any industry exists where the attitudes and habits necessary to achieving success in the pool are not rewarded. For us swimmers, I think the biggest challenge can be finding our next passion outside of the pool.But once that is found, applying the lessons for success we learned in the pool to our new field helps us anywhere we go!