At long last I finally took action and signed up for swimming lessons. The four week recurring program is at the PCC Sylvana campus, which happens to be beautiful and felt like going to summer camp. Despite being too far and hilly to reasonably bike to, the bus ride was relatively easy.
The instructors name is Dee, and there were about 8 of us in the class, ranging from beginners to a woman who can swim but is afraid to three of us who need finetuning.
We started by showing her some strokes and she put me into a lane and gave me drills. First with fins we swam across on our side , one arm straight in the water and the other at my side. I then swam back with fins doing the freestyle but only pulling one arm at a time. The resting arm stayed straight out in front. That pacing of only churning one arm at a time relaxed me, as did the fins. We then practiced many different versions of that. Swim with that pace but trace your hand along your leg (get elbow up). Then do that but let your fingers trace the top of the water. Then count your strokes across (20) and practice kicking harder and splashier when turning to breath (people forget to kick while breathing).
My issue as a runner is that my legs are tight. Don’t flow when kicking. Nor do I kick right. But everything else is alright.
We also did some backstroke with the fins and I could t help but smile bc it was so fun to go so fast.
I love my teacher, love the class, and can’t wait until next week.
Brine and Grit 