Did anyone learn swimming as an adult?
- Thread starter Harriet
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katebar
Brilliant_Rock
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Well I sort of did. I learnt how to lap swim as a 35 year old. Just set yourself small goals along the way. Today I am going to do 10 metres freestyle breathing etc.
Do the drills do the drills. Join a squad of similar learners for inspiration and motivation!
Like your teacher!
Oh and the chlorine nose stream does eventually stop.
HTH
Kate
Do the drills do the drills. Join a squad of similar learners for inspiration and motivation!
Like your teacher!
Oh and the chlorine nose stream does eventually stop.
HTH
Kate
Julianna
Brilliant_Rock
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I can''t swim.
So I guess I''ll be learning as an adult...sometime...
My younger sister learned a few years ago, she was probably about 25. She ended up doing a 1/4 Iron Man, so I guess she can swim pretty well now! Her secret was a great instructor (read: hot) and a fabulous swimsuit (read: expensive). Hee hee.
Best of luck in your swimming endeavors!
My younger sister learned a few years ago, she was probably about 25. She ended up doing a 1/4 Iron Man, so I guess she can swim pretty well now! Her secret was a great instructor (read: hot) and a fabulous swimsuit (read: expensive). Hee hee.
Best of luck in your swimming endeavors!
Sometime? No plans? The backstroke is wonderfully relaxing. Kudos to your sis!Date: 11/3/2008 9:35:18 AM
Author: Julianna
I can''t swim.So I guess I''ll be learning as an adult...sometime...
My younger sister learned a few years ago, she was probably about 25. She ended up doing a 1/4 Iron Man, so I guess she can swim pretty well now! Her secret was a great instructor (read: hot) and a fabulous swimsuit (read: expensive). Hee hee.
Best of luck in your swimming endeavors!
lliang_chi
Ideal_Rock
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I tried teaching some of my friends how to swim. It was a slow process. I don''t know how comfortable they are with being in the water now, but at least they''re not at risk of drowning anymore. The key was for them to be comfortable in the water.
Good for you to learn to swim Harriet!
What kind of swimming tips do you want? What are your goals? I used to swim and play water polo so I could possibly give you a few pointers.
Good for you to learn to swim Harriet!
What kind of swimming tips do you want? What are your goals? I used to swim and play water polo so I could possibly give you a few pointers.
Julianna
Brilliant_Rock
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Sometime.Date: 11/3/2008 10:43:35 AM
Author: Harriet
Sometime? No plans? The backstroke is wonderfully relaxing. Kudos to your sis!Date: 11/3/2008 9:35:18 AM
Author: Julianna
I can''t swim.So I guess I''ll be learning as an adult...sometime...
My younger sister learned a few years ago, she was probably about 25. She ended up doing a 1/4 Iron Man, so I guess she can swim pretty well now! Her secret was a great instructor (read: hot) and a fabulous swimsuit (read: expensive). Hee hee.
Best of luck in your swimming endeavors!
Patiently_Waiting
Brilliant_Rock
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I too took lessons as an adult a few years back and wanted to say kudos to you for doing it! As for tips, what types of tips are you looking for?
Patiently_Waiting
Brilliant_Rock
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Don''t feel too bad about not knowing how to swim - yet. If you''re anything like me, you''ll learn to swim when YOU are ready. It took me a long time to work up the courage and I finally took lessons as an adult (when I was in my early 30s) but I couldn''t see myself learning any earlier than I did - I just wasn''t ready.Date: 11/3/2008 3:20:35 PM
Author: Julianna
Sometime.Date: 11/3/2008 10:43:35 AM
Author: Harriet
Sometime? No plans? The backstroke is wonderfully relaxing. Kudos to your sis!Date: 11/3/2008 9:35:18 AM
Author: Julianna
I can''t swim.So I guess I''ll be learning as an adult...sometime...
My younger sister learned a few years ago, she was probably about 25. She ended up doing a 1/4 Iron Man, so I guess she can swim pretty well now! Her secret was a great instructor (read: hot) and a fabulous swimsuit (read: expensive). Hee hee.
Best of luck in your swimming endeavors!No plans right now, but I feel pretty goofy telling people I can''t swim when the follow-up question inevitably is ''well why don''t you learn?''. I can float on my back (no drowning here! i hope!) but haven''t tried the backstroke. It does sound relaxing, indeed.
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don''t panic !
Thanks! This question may be impossible to answer, but how quickly should I expect to progress? I''m on to the breaststroke kick now. Also, how do I become comfortable in water where I cannot jump up? I''m okay in the 7 foot end, but my trainer wants to switch me to a water polo pool! I''d just like to be able to learn sailing next summer, but my instructor wants me to do a 10k ocean race then.Date: 11/3/2008 2:39:17 PM
Author: lliang_chi
I tried teaching some of my friends how to swim. It was a slow process. I don''t know how comfortable they are with being in the water now, but at least they''re not at risk of drowning anymore. The key was for them to be comfortable in the water.
Good for you to learn to swim Harriet!
I used to get the stupid question: "You live on an island. You need to learn how to swim. What if something happens?"Date: 11/3/2008 3:20:35 PM
Author: Julianna
Sometime.No plans right now, but I feel pretty goofy telling people I can''t swim when the follow-up question inevitably is ''well why don''t you learn?''. I can float on my back (no drowning here! i hope!) but haven''t tried the backstroke. It does sound relaxing, indeed.
lliang_chi
Ideal_Rock
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It sounds like you''ve made pretty good progress so far. I''m assuming you''ve done the freestyle/crawl stroke and are moving onto the other strokes. Learning breaststroke kick is great because that''s what you do when you tread water, so it''s a good one to learn. The main thing for you, especially if you''re going to be on a boat is to just get comfortable in the water and know your abilities. (example: if you fall off a boat, don''t think you can swim 2 miles to shore. That''s crazy!) It''s good to know the different strokes so you can recover or tread or just change things up to keep it interesting.
Sounds like you''re worried about moving to the deep pool (water polo pools usually START in 7ft of water). But you''re already comfortable in deep water; you''re ok in 7 ft end of your current pool. There''s no difference if you''re in something that''s deeper-- you still can''t touch the bottom in the 7 ft end. Because you don''t need to touch the bottom. All you need to do is make it to the wall. It''s the same deal if you''re out in the ocean or something. "I''m in the ocean, I can''t touch the bottom. Can I make it to the boat? Can I make it to that sand shoal? Can I tread water here until the boat comes back around to pick me up?"
Your trainer wants you to do a 10K? Are you sure it''s a 10K? A 10K is a VERY far distance, that can''t possibly be right! Maybe it''s a 1K open water swim? Or some kind of relay event? Anyway, if you''re going to be sailing I would suggest you do some open water swimming. It is different than swimming in a pool. There exists open water swim clinics. They usually do them for triathlon training. Something like that might be good for you.
Sounds like you''re worried about moving to the deep pool (water polo pools usually START in 7ft of water). But you''re already comfortable in deep water; you''re ok in 7 ft end of your current pool. There''s no difference if you''re in something that''s deeper-- you still can''t touch the bottom in the 7 ft end. Because you don''t need to touch the bottom. All you need to do is make it to the wall. It''s the same deal if you''re out in the ocean or something. "I''m in the ocean, I can''t touch the bottom. Can I make it to the boat? Can I make it to that sand shoal? Can I tread water here until the boat comes back around to pick me up?"
Your trainer wants you to do a 10K? Are you sure it''s a 10K? A 10K is a VERY far distance, that can''t possibly be right! Maybe it''s a 1K open water swim? Or some kind of relay event? Anyway, if you''re going to be sailing I would suggest you do some open water swimming. It is different than swimming in a pool. There exists open water swim clinics. They usually do them for triathlon training. Something like that might be good for you.
Patiently_Waiting
Brilliant_Rock
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Well, like many have said on this thread, the most difficult part for me was getting over the fear of deep water. If I couldn''t stand in it, I was petrified! My progress was a bit slow, learning the techniques in shallow water, gaining the confidence to know I could swim, then overcoming the deep water feer. It sounds like you''re a bit more advanced than I am though (great job!). I can only do the freestyle and backstroke right now but plan to go back for more lessons in the not so distant future to learn more strokes and continue to feel comfortable in the deep end. Good luck training for your ocean race!
Amanda.Rx
Brilliant_Rock
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I swam on my college team, and now I''ve joined a master''s team (swim team for retired swimmers or beginning swimmers). You should check with the local pools and see if there is a masters team available in your area. This helps me a lot because I can swim with other people, which I really enjoy!
Great job on picking it up! It''s wonderful exercise, and much easier on your joints!
Great job on picking it up! It''s wonderful exercise, and much easier on your joints!
Thanks! I''ve done the crawl and backstroke (I still need to improve my form, though). I need to learn to tread. I''m not sure if you read, but I almost drowned in August (I was in 8 ft for 3-4 minutes).
Oops. I got the 10k wrong. It''s 1.7 miles. Big difference. I agree with you on open water training. My trainer will work with me on that in the summer. Is open water swimming any easier because of the salt?
lliang_chi
Ideal_Rock
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Open water swimming is any swimming that''s not in pool. So lakes, rivers and the ocean. Yes it''s easier to swim in the ocean because the salt makes you more buoyant, but there''s also waves, so that adds another dimension on it. Mostly in terms of spotting where you are. My fiance used to swim but he can''t spot for anything. I gave him a little pointer about how to do heads up freestyle stroke to spot, don''t think he''s done it yet though. He still swims faster than me because I''ve been too lazy to get in the pool. Our first tri I was only a few seconds behind him. This one the past summer I was like almost 30 secs!
lliang_chi
Ideal_Rock
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You spot landmarks to make sure you''re going the right way. Like in the pool you have those big black T''s to tell you you''re swimming straight. In open water you don''t have that, so you use big tree or a tower or something.
I took a swimming class around age 20 to learn how to swim correctly. I was terrified of swimming in water that was more than 5 feet deep.
After learning the basic strokes in our shallow pool, we moved to the Dive Well
and would stay on the wall mostly.
After spending some time there, he made us dive off the edge from a kneeling position which wasn''t too bad. You could then stand up a little more each time as you felt comfortable.
Our last class day, he asked us to dive/jump/whatever off the lowest diving board. I was scared but felt more prepared than before because we had been diving off the edge. So I did it... and my bathing suit came down when I hit the water and I exposed myself! It was a 1 piece, very tight, swim suit so I''m not sure how that happened...
So my advice is to not jump into deep water unless your swimsuit is skin tight! Oh, and try diving off the side from the kneeling position first if you aren''t already doing that. You don''t go very deep when you do it so it helps you to be more comfortable in the really deep water and with diving/jumping in general if you choose to do that.
After learning the basic strokes in our shallow pool, we moved to the Dive Well
After spending some time there, he made us dive off the edge from a kneeling position which wasn''t too bad. You could then stand up a little more each time as you felt comfortable.
Our last class day, he asked us to dive/jump/whatever off the lowest diving board. I was scared but felt more prepared than before because we had been diving off the edge. So I did it... and my bathing suit came down when I hit the water and I exposed myself! It was a 1 piece, very tight, swim suit so I''m not sure how that happened...
So my advice is to not jump into deep water unless your swimsuit is skin tight! Oh, and try diving off the side from the kneeling position first if you aren''t already doing that. You don''t go very deep when you do it so it helps you to be more comfortable in the really deep water and with diving/jumping in general if you choose to do that.
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