The unseen challenges of competition

Ιt was her moment. But the fear of failure held her back. She would have preferred to be anywhere but there. Just before she took her place on the starting block at the European Aquatics Championships in 2021, Greek swimmer Theodora (Nora) Drakou broke down in tears. "I didn't want to go out," she recalls. "I thought there was no reason to compete, that I wasn't good enough, that everyone would beat me. I felt like I had hit rock bottom in that race."

This was not a momentary outburst. She carried the accumulated fatigue of countless competitions since her teenage years. She had considered quitting, especially after her participation in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. "I told myself back then that enough was enough, that this sport was making me unhappy, and I didn't want it anymore," she says. However, she didn't abandon the pools. She needed a break but worried about being...