Honey Osrin on managing nerves ahead of big competitions or events

It’s natural to feel nervous before a big competition or event.

This doesn’t always have to be competing in front of huge crowds, sometimes it can be a competition or event that is important to you.

In some cases, nerves can be helpful to push you on and can help you stay more alert and focused. But too many nerves can be overwhelming and can impact on both performance and more importantly, mental wellbeing.

Athletes and participants at all levels battle to manage their nerves and for some it can be more difficult than others.

One athlete that has been open with her struggles is reigning British Women’s 200m Backstroke champion, Honey Osrin, who has been in great form.

In 2024, she rocketed to a time of 2:08.37 at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London to take the gold, before then heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to hit a new personal best effort on her way to a fifth place finish.

Recently, Honey shared her own difficulties with managing nerves and some of the techniques she has used to overcome them.

Managing nerves can be different for everyone but here, Honey explains how these tips have helped her in her career.

She said: “I work quite closely with Hannah Stoyel, Aquatics GB sports psychologist, and she’s really helped me manage my nerves.

‘Knowing what I can do’

“She’s given me a couple of different techniques as it can be different for everyone but the main thing is to just focus on enjoying the sport.

“I struggle quite a lot with doubting and putting too much pressure on myself. So what she got me to do was to write down key sets that have really stood out for me that I know I’ve done before.

“And I’ve taken a lot away from that as I can look back at those at any point and be like ‘okay that’s what I know I’ve done’ and I know I can produce those times in training and on race day.”

Swim England’s sports psychologist, Alex Stoyel, also recently shared the importance of goal setting to help with motivation and confidence but to make sure that these goals aren’t just based on medals and results. Read more here.