When I was younger, I was fortunate enough to attend a summer program for several years in my childhood that introduced me to the swimming pool. Every Friday during summer vacation, we would make a field trip to the Chinatown Josiah Quincy elementary school where we would play in the gym and then go swimming for an hour or so.
I never received swimming lessons so I learned by just jumping into the pool and mimicking everyone else. I could make my way from one corner to the other, so it seemed fine. Fast forward to 5 years later, I was finally introduced to a real body of water: Walden Pond. I was in the 8th grade and had no fear of water but neither had I the knowledge of the difference between open water swimming and the swimming pool.
My friend and I decided to swim into the center of the pond by ourselves and all was well until I needed to take a break. It took a moment of panic when I realized that there was no edge to rest on, and all breathing became sudden desperate gasps for air. My arms started flailing and I started sinking. I had never learned how to tread water or just stay put. It was always a destination to destination swim for me. I was choking. I grabbed onto my friend. I was dragging her down with me (she was just as small as I was in 8th grade), and luckily she started screaming for help.
I can barely remember what happened afterwards or the rest of the night. It’s all a blur. I just remember how terrified I was thinking I was going to die for those brief moments before a senior came to my rescue and swam me all the way back to shore.
Still I never took swimming lessons. Still I continued swimming in the pool. I eventually learned slowly how to improve my swimming through tips from friends and watching Youtube videos. I even took up scuba diving and tried surfing. However, in April of 2014 I started my first intermediate swim lessons and WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES! I am training for a triathlon for this summer and even if there is a slight cost, it really is important to make sure you have the basics down when you aim to do anything.
Top 3 things I learned so far:
– Keep your head down and look down at the bottom instead of looking ahead to reduce drag resistance
– Point your toes in a dorsal fin formation and kick your feet within a shoebox space
– Breathe in with your mouth and out with your nose for a three count, alternating sides for breathing