What Can Swimming Teach Us About Career Success?

Why attitude beats talent — in and out of the pool

What if the turning point wasn’t a gold medal but a race you almost skipped?

Greg Philips wasn’t planning to swim that day. He’d just come back from a school ski trip, drained from a 24-hour coach ride across Europe. No training. No rest. No desire to race.

But his mum, a swimming coach, gave him the nudge.

“You’ve got to go.”

So he did.

At the county championships, running on fumes, Greg stepped up for the 100-meter freestyle. No expectations. And then it happened, he swam four seconds faster than he ever had before. Made the finals.

“That was my epiphany moment,” he told me. “If I can do that after a week off, maybe I should take this sport more seriously.”

That moment changed everything. It wasn’t about talent anymore. It was about effort. Intent. The choice to go all in.

Can hard work really beat talent?

Greg didn’t grow up thinking he was gifted. He wasn’t the kid dominating from age 10. He started taking swimming seriously around 14 or 15, a time when most top athletes were already years deep in elite-level training.

But he found another gear. He outworked people. Broke things down. Treated every part of the race like a skill to master. Start. Underwater kick. Breakout. Turns. Finish. He went after every fraction of a second like it mattered, because it did.

A coach in the U.S. gave him the words that stuck:

“Attitude beats natural talent every time.”

That one stuck with me too.

You could see it in the way Greg approached the sport. He wasn’t chasing moments of perfection. He was chasing consistency. He showed up to training when others didn’t. He raced with a mindset built on process, not hype.

My takeaway: why this story hit different

When Greg shared that story with me, it landed. Because I’ve been there. That feeling of leaving your sport behind. Of wondering what’s next. Of trying to build something new from scratch.

Greg talked about how he didn’t even include swimming on his early CVs. He thought he had to prove himself from zero. Get a foot in the door “on merit.”

But that was the thing. He already had the merit. Swimming gave him that. The discipline. The resilience. The ability to perform when it counted. He just hadn’t seen it that way yet.

That made me stop and think. How many of us leave behind the one thing that made us strong?

How many athletes, dancers, performers, or anyone coming out of something intense think they have to start fresh when really, their best work is still in them?

How do you apply that mindset to your own path?

If you're in that in-between space—post-sport, post-degree, mid-career shift—here’s how to use what Greg learned:

1. Choose your anchor words

Greg keeps three top of mind: tenacity, sacrifice, and attitude. That’s how he makes decisions as a leader. That’s how he stays grounded. What would yours be? Pick a few that reflect who you are when you're at your best.

2. Break it into pieces

Just like Greg broke down a race, break down your next goal. Don’t try to figure it all out at once. Networking, skill building, confidence; it all starts with small reps.

3. Own your story

Greg left swimming off his resume because he didn’t see how it fit. But now? It’s the reason he shows up to work at 5 a.m. and leads teams with clarity. Don’t downplay what built you.

So... are you showing up with attitude or waiting for talent to carry you?

There’s no perfect moment. No hidden gift waiting to surface.

You have to choose to show up. Especially when it’s inconvenient. Especially when you’re tired.

That’s when attitude kicks in.

Talent fades. But habits last. Mindset lasts. The way you carry yourself through transition—that’s the stuff that sticks.

If Greg’s story hit something in you, check out the full conversation here:

🎧 Listen to his episode on the 2ndwind podcast

🔎 Explore career transition resources for athletes

Let’s get to work. You’ve done hard things before. You can do this too!