I'm going to become a swimmer. And someday I'm going to give my neice, Alex, a run for her money. Maybe.
But for sure I'm going to become a swimmer. I've already started. I've been to the pool twice!
All semester I've been meaning to take advantage of the pool on campus. It's a 2-minute walk from my office and it's beautiful. But there were a number of obstacles. First, I didn't have a bathing suit. Well, I had a bathing suit for the beach, but not one for swimming lengths. When I finally got an appropriate swimming costume, I went to the pool. The lifeguard told me I needed a bathing cap, so that was the second obstacle. On top of all of this, the pool closes most days at 4:30, and I finish class at 4:10. During the mornings I was free and the pool was open, I was usually on call to substitute teach, and being in the middle of a swim doesn't qualify as ready to fill in.
But I finally found a time - Monday afternoons - and got all the gear.
I haven't swum laps since I stopped taking swimming lessons around the age of 12. I wouldn't call myself a weak swimmer, but I'm certainly not strong. But I want to become one, since it's one of the best forms of exercise in terms of impact on the body and use of multiple muscles. Not to mention, it's the only perfect sport for a non-sweat-er like me!
My goal for my first attempt at becoming a swimmer was 20 lengths. My friend (and former Olympic rower!) Jane told me that each length is 25 m, so 20 would be half a kilometer. Unfortunately the first time I went to the pool I lost count. I also stopped a lot between lengths. I'm not sure if that affects the count or not.
Today I had a better plan: 4 lengths of a single stroke in order - front crawl, back crawl, breast stroke, elemetary back stroke, front crawl. It worked swimmingly [:)] except for the one lap of elementary back where I hit my head on the cement wall. Oh, and I got really tired after my second length of my second set of front crawl so I took a small break before finishing.
All in all, I'd call it a success. I was out of the pool in under 20 minutes. The lifeguard seemed surprised and asked, "You're finished?" I told her I lacked endurance and that I would gradually build up to more. She complemented me on my "style" (I think she meant technique) which should make my childhood swimming teachers proud.
Well, folks, I'm on my way to the Olympics! Or at least a less wimpy me.
Posts
1 comment:
As a former instructor and competitive swimmer, I'd recommend leaving out the 'elementary back stroke'. The stroke was designed as a survival stroke that is taught to non-swimmers because it involves the least amount of work in order to keep a person afloat.
You've got front crawl in there twice, add breast stroke in it's place. It's essentially the same stroke, but on your stomach and you'll be able to work on your lung capacity at the same time. You can also use it to 'rest' in between you're other laps as well.
Post a Comment