Making Varsity

Question
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
first of all, i have been swimming for most of my life.
I'm going to be a junior in high school, and for the first two years, i've been on Jv. i never really had the desire to be on varsity, even though i know i have the potential to be an amazing swimmer. But watching the Olympics on tv this year, something in me clicked into place, and this year i've decided that i'm going to stomp all my fears and just go all out.
i have roughly about a month before swimming conditioning starts, so i'm asking for mainly two things....
If you could give me some things that i should focus on in my preseason training, dryland and in the pool
and the other thing, could you help me with the mental side of the sport? when in tough practices, i have a tendancy to just give up, which drives my coaches mad. So if you could give me tips or something that would help me overcome this, and teach me how to push past that voice that suggests me to stopm it would be AMAZING.

thank you so much!
sarah : )

Answer
Sarah--
For your preseason conditioning, I'd suggest starting with some running(start easy and build up to a mile or 2 each run) just to build up some aerobic conditioning.  If you have access to stretch bands or weights start working with those, if you can get in touch with your coach, see what they suggest.
As for the mental, you've done the hard part by deciding to push to make that Varsity team.  Beyond that, the best thing I can recommend is to keep it fun.  Make up games in your head during workouts.  Try to catch the person in front of you, or if you're in front catch the last person in your lane.  Get a fast paced song you like in your head and sing it while you swim(it's a good distraction).  You will have times when your body is threatening to quit on you, don't let it.  Swimming as with most other sports is 95 percent mental,5 percent physical.  
Really concentrate on the little things, and make mini challenges out of making them better.  On each turn, work on making your streamline better(do this by trying to get further off each turn than the one before, without losing speed).  Use Maximum Distance Per Stroke drills all the time.  Try to take one less stroke per length(and still maintaining speed).  For example, I was able to get down to 11 strokes per length in freestyle without losing speed.
Most important, keep it fun.
Good Luck,
George