Philippe’s personal stories of Flow
This swim meet has a long history and to this day is sought after by many clubs even outside the province of Quebec. As a young 12-year-old boy, the national anthem blasting in the speakers, the loud music during the warm ups, the warm down pool which smelled of steamed Read more…
It was a AAA Championship meet if I recall correctly. The boys were swimming in the deep end. I was in lane 2 and Martin in 3. I always respected Martin as a worthy opponent, as he was not someone I could beat easily. He was faster than me, but Read more…
Over the 17 years (1979-1996) I swam competitively, I experienced countless times going into an altered state of consciousness during practice. My earlier recollections start around when I was 11 years old. At the time, in Canada, there was a national ranking for the 3000m free. I remember clearly doing Read more…
This was my first National level meet. I was really proud and excited to compete. My mom and I were staying at my uncles’ place to save on hotel fees. I still remember my uncles and their girlfriends watching hockey while I was trying to sleep. The race I remember Read more…
At this meet, I was testing a new approach to help me get into the zone for my races. I was focusing on paying attention to a minimum range of stimuli by letting the other swimmers look up to me. I did have some success with it and had won Read more…
I had already won a medal in the 400 free and it had been an exceptional race which I had swam deeply in the zone. I didn’t feel like I had a chance at medaling but, my best friend and training partner, Nicholas Perron was swimming right next to me Read more…
400 free, spring of 1989 at CAMO during the Long Course Interprovincial meet to select the 8-Nations tour National team. I was 16 years old. I remember feeling really proud to be on the Youth Provincial team for this meet. I didn’t really think I had a shot at making Read more…