I Got Lost (But Then I Found Myself) In Aaron Peirsol’s Mind

This article originally appeared in the 2023 College Preview issue of SwimSwam Magazine. Subscribe here.

A necessary premise, or maybe not.

When Aaron Peirsol‘s name came up while brainstorming for topics to cover in this issue of SwimSwam, I felt goosebumps down my spine. Aaron Peirsol is Aaron Peirsol, period.

Those who grew up watching swimming in the early 2000s, like me, can skip the next few lines and go to the content of the interview. For everyone else, here is a little, and perhaps not exhaustive, summary of Aaron’s career.

During three different editions of the Olympic Games, Aaron won seven medals: five golds and two silvers. He was only 17 when he won his first medal, the silver in Sydney in the 200m backstroke behind Krayzelburg in his debut in an international competition. From 2000 to 2009 he won 10 world gold medals and set 23 world records, and one of them still stands.

But I personally think that it wasn’t (only) medals and records that made Aaron Peirsol the legend he is, but his gentle and elegant approach to the world of sports. Almost contemplative, thoughtful. And always laid back.

I spoke with Aaron, who connected from Hawaii at 7 a.m., which was 7 p.m. for me, in Italy.

The interview has been a continuous flow, a kind of therapeutic session on what has been, what will be and, above all, what he thinks it should be. A transcript of almost 20 pages came out, in which I got lost, and then I found myself again.

The real interview

“I had wonderful coaches, people who loved me very much, who only wanted the best for me. I also drew from the experience of those around me. You know, when you’re a kid you can see what really works for you and what you should avoid.”

Retiring at 27 after winning everything in swimming, led to wonder: What happens next? What do I want to do? What can I give back to this world? Aaron Peirsol was looking for something. It was a journey that lasted for years and passed through different roles, with institutional positions linked to federations and sponsors. Whatever he chose to do, it couldn’t be mundane, any more than his career had been.

“A whole culture like swimming can be local or national or international, but also other sports, any other sports, they are all very similar with things that feel different. We all spend so much time with coaches and parents, that no matter what you do there are certain themes that keep coming up.

“I have been traveling for some time and am no longer a part of the field but have always stayed in the sport with different roles. I wasn’t entirely sure what skills I could develop in sports after being an athlete. I didn’t want to train, I’m not good at standing for many hours. Good coaches always stand. I have always been interested in how we value youth in youth growth and development.”

Until he found something that really stimulated him.

“I always found it very intriguing how we were raising our kids in sports. Not just getting them up and down the pool, but also how we were developing the minds of our own youth, so to speak. And so, within a while, I realized that perhaps the most effective and most efficient way to do that was to get me a piece of paper, a certificate.

“I think the school part is fun and I like the educational component. Going back to school when you’re almost 40 is an interesting exercise. But it’s also very kind; there’s something very sweet about that too. And, I think it’s always nice to keep learning. And so, you know, I think the education component is very nice. I think the thing about school is just that there’s something sweet about it, that there’s a means to an end. I think I would absolutely love to help in a concrete way one day.”

Swimming, and sport in general, has changed a lot in the last 15 years. Priorities have changed, the needs of athletes, of the public, and also the attention we pay to issues that once were not visible. It’s not about what is right and wrong, but understanding the times we live in, and Aaron has always been good at understanding the world around him.

“I know there are things that are just on the surface now that are talked about compared to when I was swimming. I think there were a lot of things that weren’t even thought of that needed to be addressed — not that anyone wanted to address them.

“So, I think maybe there are things that they didn’t even think they had to deal with. You know, I think it’s something specific to the sport; let’s say there’s a specific little culture. And those little cultures are very insular, and very, very isolated.”

His career, however, continues to teach him things that with the help of the tools he now has, look like new discoveries, but maybe they’re just old finds.

“And it’s just like that. And, so, I tell people that there are still things that I am learning from my experience as a swimmer, for the time that I have done it, in ways that there are still so many things that I am so thankful for, and about what I seem to have learned from my experiences over a decade ago.

“However, there are still things that crop up where I’m just like, wow, what do you know? That the service that that same sport has given me is indispensable and then something so valuable. And, so, for our society we need sport. I think sport is an educational need. I think what is it but another form of education.”

In the end, is education the real purpose of the magical world of sport that we are so passionate about? Maybe, yes. Perhaps it’s the underlying reason why we build the structure of professional sport — it’s nothing other than social and human.

“I think sports, I mean the simplest way I would probably look at it, is that it’s a way for kids, and for the adults, the coaches, the parents, the community, to put your kid in a situation where there’s a certain kind of agency, we would say, or like autonomy is something that a child can take hold of and then grow into it, and in the process, we’re developing our own character.

“When we play sports, yes. We are developing our sense of how to interact with the world under very stressful conditions, in situations with other people around us, with our peers, and with authority figures around us. And it’s a way to see how your efforts, our efforts, fit into the world around us. And it’s, you know, it’s a good way to understand how to collaborate with the people around us, how to handle something like competition in a healthy way, and to understand what it’s like to put so much time into something, and grow into it, and fall in love with something, and that there are other factors involved.”

A secret that maybe doesn’t just concern swimming, but that embraces a more universal truth.

“I think one of the beautiful things is that a lot of the experiences of sports translate into what we experience in life. And that’s the whole point of what sport is. It’s basically a metaphor. It’s just a way for us to learn.

“And I think a large part of why sports have been in our cultures for so many hundreds or thousands of years and continue to exist is because of the invaluable lessons it teaches us. And I think it’s really important to make sure you know what to learn.

“Because the only thing in sports that can go wrong, especially when we’re amateurs, is that we just don’t win.

“I think it’s the same thing in professionalism in a certain way. I think it is very important for children to absorb what is around them. They see what surrounds them and they are all absorbed by it. I was very lucky to have excellent help when I was a child.”

A shared knowledge that spans centuries, but which always has to face new problems, such as pro sports.

“The difference with professional sports is that there are two competing forces, the game and the result. Like ‘I want my kids to be very fast.’ Parents may think, you know, ‘I want my kids to be good at it, but I also want them to enjoy what they’re doing.’ Here is this fine line. There are complex things that come with doing well.

“You may be able to get a college scholarship. And, you know, there’s a certain kind of appeal to succeeding in something like sports. There is something very compelling about that even for the community around a child. I’ve seen that, you know, parents can get wrapped up in what their kids’ successes are, and coaches can kind of overlook some parts of the mental aspect at times of what a kid might be going through.

“We can be better in that aspect. We can learn to handle those stressful situations in a better way. Sport is not about outdoing other people trying to get their hands on the wall first. This has nothing to do with sport, but it is really surpassing ourselves.

“And an example of what I’m talking about is meditation. You know, that’s not something very easy for a 10-year-old to do. But the mind can go down a little rabbit hole, and it really is such a powerful tool or something so good to learn: what to pay attention to in our minds, and what to feed, and what to put energy on, and what to just not pay attention to.

“Letting go and knowing and learning that we actually have control over this. But what I came to learn is that even those of us who reach the pinnacle of what the sport has to offer didn’t really have too much control over that part of our minds. We really didn’t know there were drives, and there were anxieties and insecurities, or anything else that could still overwhelm our minds.”

The real question, asked by someone who has watched “Aaron Peirsol: the Legend” on TV growing up is: Why? Why would one of the greatest swimmers in history go back to school for a master’s degree in counseling at Wake Forest University at age 40?

To give back, and do things in the right way.

“I don’t see jobs or positions as more important than coaches, teachers, parents, and children. The best investment we can make is putting all our energy and investment into our future. This is literally thinking outside of ourselves. And I think it’s really important to do that in life.

“Also, I just make sure to make sure I’m doing certain things right. I want to give something back to the sport I love so much. But, you know, sports and culture are always taken over by the next generation, as it should be.”