Are you tired of being the only adult at the pool party who can’t swim? Do you envy the little kids doing cannonballs and bopping around with ease while you’re stuck in the shallow end clinging to the edge like a barnacle?
Fear not, my friend. It’s time to make a splash and learn the fundamentals of swimming for adults. And who knows, with a little practice, you might even give Michael Phelps a run for his money (okay, maybe not, but a girl can dream). So put on your swim cap and let’s dive in!
When learning something new, it’s helpful to get a lay of the land. Otherwise, you might find yourself in the deep end of the pool with no floaties, metaphorically speaking. It’s like trying to understand calculus before you even know how to add – you’ll just end up with a headache and ditching the whole idea.
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First thing is to understand what it means to swim. This may seem like an overly simplistic place to start but without a clear definition, we are at risk of fighting, struggling, and becoming overwhelmed working towards the wrong thing.
Take a moment and reflect on why swimming. What is it that is attractive to you?
Perhaps you feel drawn to the beauty and serenity of calm open water. The glassy surface and eye-catching horizon.
Or maybe it’s the joyful laughter and freedom of movement of a warm summer pool party.
Are you curious to be on the water in a small boat or paddleboard? Or peering into a new underwater world of seastars, coral reefs, and turtles.
Let’s not forget good old lap swimming. Frontcrawling up and down the lane. Not exactly my favorite thing but it has its place for sure.
When considering your definition of what it means to swim it’s helpful to go beyond what you think your arms and legs “should” be doing and consider how you want to think and feel when swimming.
After all no one really buys a car solely to get from one place to another. We buy a particular car because of the way it makes us feel or what we believe it says about us. This can sound kind of yucky especially if you are watching a car commercial that doesn’t speak to your particular desires. However consider all the things you do, purchase, own, or spend your time with because it feels good, familiar, or easy.
Most people do not just want to be told all the things to do with their arms and legs to get them to the other side of a pool while feeling out of control, overwhelmed, exhausted, out of breath, or worse yet terrified of the worst will happen if they don’t get it right.
But without a good definition of swimming this is what happens in adult swim lessons all the time. Teachers telling students what to do. Students trying their best to copy (while inside feeling stressed or worried). Resulting in some thrashing splashy out of breath mess of a stroke.
Take a moment to expand your beliefs about what swimming is.
After working with beginning adult swimmers for over 20 years we have gotten very clear on what is essential to being a good swimmer and a safe swimmer. It is not enough for us to send new swimmers out in the world with swim skills that do not first keep them calm, in control, and able to handle an unexpected situation.
Frontcrawl, treading water, and freestyle are all nice bonus skills that come after knowing how to be safe, get air, and rest easily and consistently.
Do not be lured in with tips for side breathing, proper body position, and egg beater (a kick used in treading water for lifeguarding or water polo). When what you really need is to swim:
To be able to move from here to there with comfort and ease, getting air and rest regardless of where the bottom, side, or shore is located. And being able to come back to calm when something unexpected happens.
This is what it means to be able to swim properly, safely, and with freedom.
Swimming should be fun and easy. So should learning to swim.
Swimmingly,
