Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Swimming again

I haven't talked about swimming in a long time. When I first started floundering in the water, it was a regular feature in my blog. When I first set the goal of doing a triathlon, it was without knowing how to swim. Since then, I've taken 2 sets of adult swim classes. I also continue to swim 3 times a week which has brought me from being a scared non-swimmer to one capable of swimming 1500 metres non-stop... very slowly.

I finally got up the courage to join a program that is exactly what I need. A swim program for triathletes. Now, you may not have noticed, but I have never referred to myself as a triathlete. I intend to be one at some point, but I don't feel qualified to claim the title until I have completed at least one triathlon.

Monday was the first class, and I got as much out of it as I did from the entire session the last time I took adult lessons. It's run by a local triathlon coach, and she is good and knows her stuff. (She's actually the same tri coach that was lapping Jen and I at the track on Sunday.) Since it's geared for triathlons, the focus is entirely on front crawl. While it was interesting learning other strokes, for me, it felt like a huge waste of time to spend so much of my previous classes on them. Most of Monday's class was spent doing drills that worked on body position and body roll.

I am thrilled to be taking a class from somebody that really knows technique and understands how it fits within the whole of a triathlon. In the last class I took, I asked a question about something and was told to "just do whatever is more comfortable". Sometimes, the right technique isn't the most comfortable because it is unfamiliar, so I'm excited to learn from somebody that can teach me what I need to know.

2 comments:

  1. YAY!! I really liked it too - I think she's going to be great! Next week you're moving up a lane, right?

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  2. I agree 100% with you! I started with a triathlon swim class because I didn't want to waste time learning/perfecting other strokes when I know freestyle/front crawl is the most efficient for triathlon.

    Must get back to the pool myself... maybe next week?

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