As a swimmer, life constantly revolves around the huge ups (the major tournaments where you’re in the spotlight) and enormous downs (the fatigue of heavy training). Growing up means learning to buffer these ups & downs. This may sound familiar to those who paid attention in chemistry class, but if you don’t recognize what it means, in this context I use the word buffer to indicate that you want to be able to make the extremes a little less extreme. You have to learn to control the extremes and accept them, which, in a way, will make them feel a little bit less extreme. With this I don’t mean to say that you suddenly have to stop trying to reach those extreme goals and get less tired from hard training, I am trying to say that it is advantageous to learn how to deal with the mental strain that those ups and downs cause. Experiencing those ups and downs and learning how to control your emotions is the best way to buffer. Never too high, never too low, this is the secret to sustainable sportsmanship.