This year I made a New Year’s resolution to finally learn how to swim laps. I have tried to learn in past years but have failed terribly. I just couldn’t seem to get coordinated enough to make it down the pool lane and back without gasping for air mid-way through. This time I took a different approach, and it has made all the difference.
Here are my top tips:
- Invest in a good pair of goggles
In my past attempts to swim laps some of my issues were the result of my goggles not fitting properly. They were either too tight causing painful red rings around my eyes that would linger for hours after or they were too lose resulting in water filling up inside them. While watching a rerun of the Shark Tank one evening I learned about a company called The Magic 5 that specializes in making custom swimming goggles. The process entails mapping your face with your smartphone for a perfect fit. Some custom swimming goggles can be quite costly, so I was thrilled to find these at a relatively reasonable price!
- Find a good time of day
It is important to choose a time of day when the pool is not very busy, otherwise you will need to share a lane. This is fine for more experienced swimmers but if you are just starting out it can be challenging to manage sharing a lane and maintaining your form in such a small space. I am getting more used to sharing the lane now but, in the beginning, let’s just say that I may have crashed into a couple of pool walls…ouch! My preferred time is 8:00pm after kids have finished their homework and are ready for bed.
- Talk with fellow swimmers and reference YouTube when needed
My biggest challenge was that I could not figure out how to coordinate my breathing and my arm strokes. After speaking with a fellow swimmer one evening about how she swims “like a fish”, I reviewed a few instructional videos on YouTube and a light bulb came on! I figured out that I was holding my breadth while in the water which was causing me to gasp for air and completely throwing off my buoyancy. After making some minor tweaks to my breathing I was able to complete a full lap and can now swim down and back a few times with some much-needed rest time throughout. I can’t say that I swim “like a fish” yet but with some more practice I will get there. In hindsight, taking a swim class would have helped me learn this sooner so I would highly recommend that, too.
- Be patient with yourself
This experience has further reinforced for me that patience, perseverance, and flexibility is key to learning any new skill. For a long time, I thought that swimming laps was something that I would never learn because I did not have the coordination to get it right. With the right mindset and the simplified approach of starting small and building upon what you already know, anything is possible!