Back when Shelly and I were fledgling triathletes, we taught ourselves how to swim using a Total Immersion book. That is, we read the chapters and then showed up at the pool and tried to do what it said. After a few weeks of this, we started "swimming" laps and experienced the learning curve that happens when you're teaching yourself something totally foreign. "Does this look like the picture in the book?" we'd ask each other, and then shrug and say "I think so."
I won't speak for Shelly, but I remember how I felt like a total weirdo in the pool, totally self conscious about what I was doing, how I looked, whether I belonged there. I mean, we weren't even 100% sure we were wearing our caps and goggles correctly, and we were swimming in fashion suits with skirts because we thought the competition suits were too tight.
On one of these first occasions, a man that we had seen multiple times at the pool - a "real" swimmer - who glided effortlessly through the water, lapping me repeatedly, who had a beautiful stroke and wore the right attire, stopped me and provided some feedback about my stroke. "You're holding your head up too high," he said. "Look at the bottom of the pool while you swim, don't look forward. This will bring your legs up." Lo and behold, the next 100 I swam was effortlessly 20 seconds faster than any that had come before it.
It's been 5 years since that day, and Shelly and I both were lucky to take to swimming and get pretty decent at it right away. Every time I'm in the pool I observe the people swimming in the other lanes, noting the good form of some and thinking of the advice I'd give to others. But, although I was grateful to the man who gave me that unsolicited advice, I'm just not bold enough to proactively critique the form of other swimmers.
I've really been loving swimming lately. I just feel like something has clicked and I'm starting to feel like "a real swimmer." I was enjoying a swim workout today and noticing the people around me, as usual. Today there was a guy I'd never seen before in the lane next to me, struggling with his head up and his feet dragging behind him as I lapped him repeatedly.
Finally, at the end of my workout, he was sitting at the wall resting, and he spoke to me. "I just have to ask you, how much do you swim?" he asked. I told him that I swim 3 days a week, and he commented on how fast and effortless I looked. Then he asked if I had any tips for him. So I told him, "Well, I did notice that you're holding your head up pretty high, and that makes your legs drop down. So concentrate on pointing your nose and your fingertips at the bottom of the pool." He thanked me and told me that he's new to swimming; he's a runner trying it out as cross-training. Just like me and Shelly 5 years ago! Maybe one day we'll see him at a triathlon swim start.
It felt really weird to give that same advice that I'd received years ago. It also feels really cool to see how far I've come, and to be reminded of what it was like to be a newbie. Love it!
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