9. BCRT Conference: 12 October 2013. Marc Woods, BCRT Patron: 'Personal best'

Key Wellness / Self-Care / Productivity Strategies from the Talk

• Reframe adversity into purpose

  • When diagnosed at 17, use a “limited time” mindset to decide: make the most of time and choose to be “as good as I can be” at whatever path you pick.
  • Treat setbacks as part of the journey rather than proof you’re finished.

• Build a strong support system (and show up for it)

  • Rely on people who believe in you (especially early on after diagnosis/amputation).
  • Use others to coach, advocate, and problem-solve—especially in environments that are “new” to you.
  • Think of your work as needing a team, not just personal effort.

• Sense of humor as a coping tool

  • Keep a light, self-reliant attitude when things go wrong.
  • Humor helps you handle difficulty and keeps morale up during stressful situations (e.g., the skiing leg mishap).

• Turn inspiration into disciplined routine

  • Commit to high training demands like a “full-time athlete” plan:
    • Early wake-up
    • Multiple swimming sessions per day
    • Gym work during the day
    • Evening training
  • The strategy is consistency + time investment once you decide the goal is serious.

• Learn fast: listen to feedback and review performance

  • Actively take in coaching/medical/technical feedback.
  • Conduct post-race/process reviews to find what truly held you back.
  • Treat review as part of the workflow, not something optional.

• Align targets with the end goal

  • Targets can help, but if they become the “goal” themselves, they can backfire.
  • Ensure:
    • Targets are consistent with the real destination (e.g., winning gold vs hitting a specific time).
    • Your pacing/strategy is driven by what matters most.

• Emotional resilience: pick yourself up after failure

  • Don’t quit after losing—athletes “won’t exist if they quit the first time they got beat.”
  • After a disappointing result: refocus quickly and compete again.

• Communication & agreement within a team

  • Get the team aligned on the “best possible outcome.”
  • Don’t just talk at people—listen, let them contribute, and adjust communication style.
  • If one person leads without listening, the team may fail to reach full potential.

• Address fears through supportive conversations

  • Identify team members’ hopes and fears.
  • Have direct, practical conversations to reduce anxiety (e.g., relay changeover fears).
  • Fear support can be easier for others when you structure the problem and give reassurance.

• Mental training: control what you can, block what you can’t

  • Use visualization/“environment control” tactics for training focus:
    • Imagine lane boundaries like black curtains
    • On breathing, focus only on what you can control.
  • When distracted by competitors’ positions/speed, “block it out” and do your job.

• “Stakeholder analysis” to optimize your environment

  • Identify everyone who can impact performance (coaches, medical staff, physiotherapy/biomechanics, equipment setup, logistics).
  • Start conversations with the broader support network, not just the athlete-coach relationship.
  • Notice small inefficiencies that add up (e.g., delayed analysis left on a desk; late lane-rope setup).

• Acknowledge and appreciate invisible contributors

  • Success depends on people who handle “behind-the-scenes” essentials (pool water quality, lane ropes, logistics).
  • Gratitude reinforces team cohesion and motivates high performance across the system.

• Reframe disability as task-relative

  • Disability isn’t a fixed label; it depends on the task/context.
  • Judge people by what they can do (the “thousand things they can do”), not by a single limitation.

Presenters / Sources

• Marc Woods (BCRT Conference; BCRT Patron)