Friday, September 10, 2010

Swim Instruction

This morning Cali and I were supposed to have swam at MFY. She ended up bailing (something about "swimming early Friday morning sounds better Wednesday morning than Thursday night!"), but I still went. The outdoor pool is still open, and I took full advantage of it. The other thing I took advantage of was Buzz, the Masters Swimming coach. He had only 2 athletes (he said there are usually 12), so he had some time to instruct me; I was a super willing athlete. First, he noted that I was coming way across my body with my arms, especially my left. So I set out to work on over-exaggerating a straight-armed stroke.

Once I did couple hundred focusing on that, he noted that I lift my head up when I breathe; I don't just turn, I lift—as in, when I breathe to the left, my entire head, right ear included, comes out of the water. Instead, only half my left side should even leave the water. He said to think about using just a little pocket of air, created by the displaced water around my head, and to look back and down toward my shoulder. It was a lot to remember, but it felt so much more efficient!

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