Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Simon Lamar Works through Obstacles to Make 2021 U.S. Open Water National Team
Simon Lamar is afraid of the ocean.
That wouldn’t be a big deal if he was a land athlete or solely a pool swimmer.
But since he’s one of the United States’ most promising open water competitors, it’s surprising.
His competitions take place in uncontrolled bodies of water, often oceans and seas. They are murky and full of marine life (ask him about the huge catfish during training camp in Slovenia).
The elements are unpredictable and there are no lane lines or sides to hold onto when he’s tired or needs a quick breather.
Add in the aggressive nature of competitors in a free-for-all environment, and that makes the ocean scary for Lamar.
“My first (open water meet) was when I was 13, and when I finished the race, I told my coach I never wanted to do that again,” Lamar said. “It was traumatizing for me. But I did it again the next year, this time the 10K, and once again, it was a terrible experience.”
So why did he keep swimming open water if he hated it? By the next season, a 14-year-old Lamar was back competing in open water at FINA World Junior Championships – and this time, it felt different.
He’d discovered a newfound appreciation for the discipline – and performed very well. And while his fear of the ocean was still there, Lamar chose to attack that fear – and he’s loved it ever since.
“I’m still very aware of my fear, but I realized I am pretty good at open water, and I decided to keep it going,” said Lamar, who competed at the 2017 Open Water World Championships.
He was recently named to the U.S. Open Water National Team, and he’s excited for 2022 and the opportunity to compete this spring for a shot at 2023 FINA Open Water World Championships – where the 2024 Open Water U.S. Olympic team will be selected.
With ancestral roots in Venezuela (dad) and Spain (mom), there was a time not too long ago when Lamar considered competing for a country other than his home country at the Olympics.
But having been born and raised in California – and with swimming roots firmly set with his swim club in Fullerton, where he took lessons since age 6 – Lamar ultimately decided he wanted to compete for the United States internationally.
Now in his final competitive year at Harvard University, Lamar is focused on finishing his collegiate swimming career and then putting his energy and attention toward earning a spot on the 2024 Olympic team.
And if he were to accomplish what his friend and mentor Jordan Wilimovsky did in 2016, when he competed in both open water as well as the 1500 freestyle in Rio de Janeiro, that would be even better.
“The dream is to swim in the Olympics, and open water is my best opportunity, but I won’t give up on also swimming a pool event,” said Lamar, who is pre-med at Harvard. “In 2015, I contemplated making a bid to compete for Venezuela in 2016, but my club coach encouraged me to focus on swimming for the U.S.
“Although I had visited Venezuela and Spain, and still had family in both countries, he reminded me I had never lived in either country, and I am an American. It made sense.”
Lamar said his interest in pursuing a future in medicine stems largely from the death of his mother, Maria, when he was 13.
She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and started chemotherapy. During treatment, she contracted pneumonia and complications ensued.
Her doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma, and shortly after that, she passed away. But the entire experience impacted Lamar in ways he didn’t want to acknowledge or in some cases even realize until he was well into his teens.
“Right after (she passed), I was in major shock, and being only 13, I dug my head into swimming and school and refused to deal with my grief,” he said. “I went to practice, did homework and slept, but I didn’t want to think about mom.
“I just kept asking myself why she had to die, and that impacted every part of my life. When I would swim, I’d ask myself if I was living up to what she would have wanted, but I couldn’t answer that. I experienced profound anxiety, struggled to get out of bed and feared that something bad would happen to the people around me, the people important in my life.”
When he did start coming to terms with her death and absence in his life, Lamar said he resented his father initially for not letting him know more about how bad her condition was before she died, and that strained their relationship.
Through mental health therapy – something he still does to this day – Lamar learned to accept her death and his relationship with his dad became stronger than ever.
“I realized, essentially, we were all we had, and that relationship is very important to both of us,” he said.
But his process of acceptance wasn’t without some severe challenges.
Halfway through his freshman year at Harvard, Lamar experienced severe depression and left the team and school to return to California.
There was a point when he wasn’t sure he would ever swim again – spending 8 months away from the water – but his support network, most notably, his father, Simon, helped him through it.
When he was ready to return to school and swimming, Harvard, his coaches and teammates welcomed him back with open arms.
“I couldn’t have come through this without the support and encouragement of the people around me,” he said. “Knowing they had my back as I struggled and worked through everything was exactly what I needed.”
Then COVID hit in early 2020, and the isolation of being away from his teammates (NCAA Championships were cancelled and the Ivy League suspended the 2020-21 competitive season) made things challenging.
“I definitely relapsed mentally and was out of the water again for a while,” he said. “When I returned (to practice/training), I felt like I had to be perfect all the time, and I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to be perfect. I was training well, but I wasn’t enjoying it all.”
And when he experienced what he called a “terrible Trials” this past summer in Omaha, Lamar was ecstatic for his friends and teammates who made the Olympic team, but he was sad because he knew he was capable of swimming much better than he did.
But he said thanks to his therapy and what he learned from a sports psychology book, he has been able to work through that experience – live in the present and come out on the other side as strong as ever.
Now, he’s enjoying swimming more than ever, and he is excited for Open Water National Championships this spring – and an opportunity to make the World Championship team and vie for a spot on the next Olympic team.
“Although it was dreadful going from making a World Championship team in 2017 to not being able to swim in 2018, I have found joy in swimming and everyday life and am extremely elated to be back on the National Team with my best friends,” he said.
That wouldn’t be a big deal if he was a land athlete or solely a pool swimmer.
But since he’s one of the United States’ most promising open water competitors, it’s surprising.
His competitions take place in uncontrolled bodies of water, often oceans and seas. They are murky and full of marine life (ask him about the huge catfish during training camp in Slovenia).
The elements are unpredictable and there are no lane lines or sides to hold onto when he’s tired or needs a quick breather.
Add in the aggressive nature of competitors in a free-for-all environment, and that makes the ocean scary for Lamar.
“My first (open water meet) was when I was 13, and when I finished the race, I told my coach I never wanted to do that again,” Lamar said. “It was traumatizing for me. But I did it again the next year, this time the 10K, and once again, it was a terrible experience.”
So why did he keep swimming open water if he hated it? By the next season, a 14-year-old Lamar was back competing in open water at FINA World Junior Championships – and this time, it felt different.
He’d discovered a newfound appreciation for the discipline – and performed very well. And while his fear of the ocean was still there, Lamar chose to attack that fear – and he’s loved it ever since.
“I’m still very aware of my fear, but I realized I am pretty good at open water, and I decided to keep it going,” said Lamar, who competed at the 2017 Open Water World Championships.
He was recently named to the U.S. Open Water National Team, and he’s excited for 2022 and the opportunity to compete this spring for a shot at 2023 FINA Open Water World Championships – where the 2024 Open Water U.S. Olympic team will be selected.
With ancestral roots in Venezuela (dad) and Spain (mom), there was a time not too long ago when Lamar considered competing for a country other than his home country at the Olympics.
But having been born and raised in California – and with swimming roots firmly set with his swim club in Fullerton, where he took lessons since age 6 – Lamar ultimately decided he wanted to compete for the United States internationally.
Now in his final competitive year at Harvard University, Lamar is focused on finishing his collegiate swimming career and then putting his energy and attention toward earning a spot on the 2024 Olympic team.
And if he were to accomplish what his friend and mentor Jordan Wilimovsky did in 2016, when he competed in both open water as well as the 1500 freestyle in Rio de Janeiro, that would be even better.
“The dream is to swim in the Olympics, and open water is my best opportunity, but I won’t give up on also swimming a pool event,” said Lamar, who is pre-med at Harvard. “In 2015, I contemplated making a bid to compete for Venezuela in 2016, but my club coach encouraged me to focus on swimming for the U.S.
“Although I had visited Venezuela and Spain, and still had family in both countries, he reminded me I had never lived in either country, and I am an American. It made sense.”
Lamar said his interest in pursuing a future in medicine stems largely from the death of his mother, Maria, when he was 13.
She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and started chemotherapy. During treatment, she contracted pneumonia and complications ensued.
Her doctors placed her in a medically-induced coma, and shortly after that, she passed away. But the entire experience impacted Lamar in ways he didn’t want to acknowledge or in some cases even realize until he was well into his teens.
“Right after (she passed), I was in major shock, and being only 13, I dug my head into swimming and school and refused to deal with my grief,” he said. “I went to practice, did homework and slept, but I didn’t want to think about mom.
“I just kept asking myself why she had to die, and that impacted every part of my life. When I would swim, I’d ask myself if I was living up to what she would have wanted, but I couldn’t answer that. I experienced profound anxiety, struggled to get out of bed and feared that something bad would happen to the people around me, the people important in my life.”
When he did start coming to terms with her death and absence in his life, Lamar said he resented his father initially for not letting him know more about how bad her condition was before she died, and that strained their relationship.
Through mental health therapy – something he still does to this day – Lamar learned to accept her death and his relationship with his dad became stronger than ever.
“I realized, essentially, we were all we had, and that relationship is very important to both of us,” he said.
But his process of acceptance wasn’t without some severe challenges.
Halfway through his freshman year at Harvard, Lamar experienced severe depression and left the team and school to return to California.
There was a point when he wasn’t sure he would ever swim again – spending 8 months away from the water – but his support network, most notably, his father, Simon, helped him through it.
When he was ready to return to school and swimming, Harvard, his coaches and teammates welcomed him back with open arms.
“I couldn’t have come through this without the support and encouragement of the people around me,” he said. “Knowing they had my back as I struggled and worked through everything was exactly what I needed.”
Then COVID hit in early 2020, and the isolation of being away from his teammates (NCAA Championships were cancelled and the Ivy League suspended the 2020-21 competitive season) made things challenging.
“I definitely relapsed mentally and was out of the water again for a while,” he said. “When I returned (to practice/training), I felt like I had to be perfect all the time, and I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to be perfect. I was training well, but I wasn’t enjoying it all.”
And when he experienced what he called a “terrible Trials” this past summer in Omaha, Lamar was ecstatic for his friends and teammates who made the Olympic team, but he was sad because he knew he was capable of swimming much better than he did.
But he said thanks to his therapy and what he learned from a sports psychology book, he has been able to work through that experience – live in the present and come out on the other side as strong as ever.
Now, he’s enjoying swimming more than ever, and he is excited for Open Water National Championships this spring – and an opportunity to make the World Championship team and vie for a spot on the next Olympic team.
“Although it was dreadful going from making a World Championship team in 2017 to not being able to swim in 2018, I have found joy in swimming and everyday life and am extremely elated to be back on the National Team with my best friends,” he said.