SWIMMING LESSONS
I am actually four swimming lessons in right now. It really started as a slow process. The first two lessons were close together and did not yield much in the way of results. I was able to move about three strokes in the water before I stopped, coughed out pool water and went back to the start of a lap lane for another go. I did not put in that much time at first...I just didn't enjoy it. I had a hard time learning how to breathe and stroke, so I struggled. I was told to use a pool buoy for flotation, and was finally able to get to the end of a lap lane with that---and then I was able to go two laps---and my distance gradually increased until I could go the distance required for the tri,stopping to breathe at the end of every lap. Then I realized that I was dependent on the flotation device to get me through the water, and I was unable to go even a lap without it. Then I was able to go one lap without it, then a few and then the 35 laps I needed, and more. But I was still stopping at the end of every lap to breathe. And I still had a number of problems with my stroke and my breathing and with getting into a rhythm...and I am still working on them today. I was seeing small improvements every time I got into the water. Then I went to a swim clinic, sponsored by SheRox, and I jumped into the Schuylkill River and everything I knew went out the window!

I was pretty unprepared for the entrance into the water...it was not gradual...it was a jump from about 4 feet up straight into deep water. There was no touching the bottom or pushing off from a wall to start! I had to tread water for about 5 minutes before my group went out for a swim. I never learned how to tread water, although I was a fast learner after I jumped in! By the time I moved off to swim, my heart was pounding so rapidly I just couldn't get my breath, and I was expending all of my energy just trying to stay afloat. I couldn't get a rhythm going if I did try to freestroke, and since you can't see much more than your hand in front of you in dark water, I spent a lot of time bumping into people everywhere and starting all over again from panic mode. (Remember, I was still used to stopping at the end of every lap to breathe or push off, so this was a completely different experience!) In retrospect, I really don't know how I got through the swim that day---and it was only a 1/4 mile swim. There were people in canoes and mentors all over the place in case you needed to be pulled out, but I refused to need to be pulled out. I just kept moving, dog paddling, and backstroking my way to the end of the swim. When it was all said and done, I realized that I needed to learn two things: first, I needed to do the entire 1/2 mile in a pool without touching the bottom once, and I needed to learn another stroke---either the side stroke or the breaststroke, to get through this swim. And I need to find some courage to get back into the Schuylkill River on race day!