Learning to swim
(not a metaphor: I'm having lessons)
I’ve been learning to swim. Six weeks in, I thought I’d share how I’ve been getting on.
I signed up for lessons because, although I can swim already, and I like to, it’s the head-out-of-the-water kind of swimming, breaststroke only, and I really want to know how to swim different strokes, to be able to ‘do the breathing’, and to give my neck the gift of being in alignment with the rest of my body.
I make a few notes after each session. Here are my jottings so far.
Swimming lesson 1 (first week of October)
Felt super nervous. Got to the poolside early, which did help. Was worried about not being able to see or hear the instructor without my contact lenses in.1 Another learner showed me her prescription goggles; nice but pricey, maybe something for later down the line.
Also anxious about whether I was in the right group. You have to self-assess when you sign up, and because I could tick ‘can swim over 25 metres unaided’, it put me into the ‘Advanced’ group, which didn’t feel quite right. Explained this to the instructor, who said, ‘Okay, get in the pool, let’s see what you’ve got’.
Swam a return journey in my usual way. Instructor said, ‘You’ve got a nice smooth stroke … bit grannyish [agreed]’. Then they said, ‘Now, a length and back of front crawl’. I imagine this is how the contestants on The Great British Bake Off feel when faced with the stripped-back instruction of ‘make the choux pastry’ for the technical challenge, with no information about what quantity to add at what stage or how to incorporate each ingredient. Except, in this case, instead of a mystery recipe of butter, flour, milk, and eggs, it’s breathing, moving, arms, and legs. I couldn’t think how I would even begin to bring the front-crawl mixture together. Was relieved when the instructor offered me an out: ‘Would you prefer to move to the other group?’ Yes, please. Climbed up the steps and then back down the ones on the opposite side to join the right class.
This lower-level group is called ‘Be a Swimmer’, which I like a lot. Makes it sound both matter-of-fact and aspirational.
Got to try out the breathing for the first time. Instructor said she teaches breathing out through the nose, not the mouth. I loved how she described what to do:
hahp, bubble bubble bubble, hahp, bubble bubble bubble …
I thought it’d be confusing that it’s the opposite way around to yoga and pilates breathing, but my brain and body seemed able to figure it out okay … mostly … lots of spluttering, and I needed my water bottle nearby.
Equipment notes: goggles kept fogging up.
Swimming lesson 2
The main theme for this week: front crawl. Which, so says the internet, is synonymous with ‘freestyle’ because competitive swimmers almost always choose to swim crawl in the freestyle race even though they could, in theory, choose any of the ‘official’ styles. The two names seem so different from each other: effortful crawling versus freestylin’.
But first, some gliding on our fronts and then our backs. Instructor comments: Thumbs up. ‘Nice and glidey.’ I’m glowing with pride about being able to do a glidey kinda glide.
Now, a first go with the arms too. Our instructor tells me I’m trying to take my breath when my arm is directly in front of my face. ‘There should be nothing in front. Nothing!’, and she waves to demonstrate all the empty space I should have in front of me. When I get to the end of the pool, she explains more: ‘When your arms are in the right position, gravity will make a space in the water, a dip of a wave, allowing you to take a breath’. A literal breathing space. Wow. This is mind-blowing to me. Thanks gravity. What an awesome force you are.
Next, I practised the rhythm of ‘Face in the water (one stroke), face in the water (two-stroke), and up for breath. Had a moment of it feeling easy and magical. Like: this is the secret everyone in the lane-swimming part of the pool already knows.
After the front-crawl practice, our instructor throws a big plastic hoop into the pool, of the hula kind, one for each of us. To my amazement, it sinks upright in the water. A trick of physics I didn’t know about before (more gravity magic). We had to swim underwater through the hoop. I absolutely loved doing this! It felt like such a treat. More hoop please!
Equipment notes: different goggles this time, the second pair from the summer holiday stash I’d been given; unfortunately, these ones kept filling with water while swimming.
Swimming lesson 3:
Our instructor says: ‘Okay, this week, it’s all about the backstroke!’
Despite last week’s face in the water and breathing having gone pretty well, I was glad at the thought of not having to have my face in the water this time. However, there was no escape, as the way we started off was to bring both our arms up from our hips to over our heads, with this motion bringing with it a whole heap of water. Instead of face in the water, it was water on the face. Great. I was not prepared and got a whole lot of water up my nose. I asked our instructor how to stop that from happening. ‘Anytime your face is in the water, breathe out through your nose’. This is what I’m really liking about the lessons – the answers always make so much logical sense. To the point where it makes me laugh. Oh, right, it’s as simple as that? Now you say it, not sniffing up the water does seem like the better option.
Thought I already knew how to do backstroke, but apparently, I’ve been doing it all wrong. I usually bring my arm straight up and then fold it back down into the water, thumb-first all the way. Now I know: no no no. Thumbwards out of the water, then pinky down into the water, with an elbow bend and hand scoop under the water.
We were told to imagine an ‘I’m a little teapot’ position for the elbow bend and then ‘big big paddle’ for the water scooping.
Struggled with this a lot. I kept trying to bend my elbow while it was still out of the water. Definitely felt like I was just not getting it this time, even though I now understood what needed to happen.
Equipment notes: chose the fogging gogs over the letting-water-in ones.
Swimming lesson 4:
Had to miss it due to an awful cold. Really missed going. Big FOMO.
Equipment notes: Olbas Oil and a million tissues.
Swimming lesson 5:
Breathing practice this week! After a cold, I noticed a massive difference in lung capacity, including difficulty breathing out. Definitely had less breath in me than usual. Our instructor’s top tip this week was ‘Pretend like you’re swimming downhill. That’s the sensation you’re looking for.’ Feel like I’ve tempted fate by saying that everything so far had been very logical. This seemed to be the opposite of everything my mind and body wanted to do. Crawl downhill? Push into the water not through or out of it? Thinking of the hula-hoop swimming a few weeks ago helped a lot to convince my head that, yes, it did want to torpedo along, nose down.
Equipment notes: Definitely need to get a swimming cap. Apparently, even one strand of hair under the goggles is enough to break the seal. Talking of goggles, better get those sorted too.
Swimming lesson 6:
First time doing some practice poolside rather than in the water. We all stood on the side while our instructor showed us how to do the front-crawl ‘catch’ and then moved our shoulders into the right place as we tried to do the stroke, helping us to understand what the arm movement should feel like. Noticed I didn’t even feel silly, standing on the side, visible to the lane swimmers in the other part of the pool. That’s because of some good advice I’d read: that everyone in the pool is focusing on what they are doing, not what other people are doing. And I just felt happy to be learning. So I stood on the side, trying to get my elbows to look like they were being held up by puppet strings and to move my body back with my shoulder. Plenty of practice in the water too, including via the doggy-paddle stroke while we got the hang of high elbows.
Equipment notes: First use of a swim cap and my new goggles. What a dream! Felt way more agile and didn’t have to adjust my goggles in between lengths/activities. Made an enormous difference. Much more penguin-like. Hoping to become a dolphin anytime now.
I can’t hear without my glasses either, even though I’m not that short sighted. This really made me want to get back into swimming regularly. Thank you.