Swim instructors and coaches: What do you think about the the progress this swimmer has made? I am neither a swim instructor or a coach; however, this 24 year old watched me swim one day and said he wanted to learn to swim just like me. :bighug: Awwww, I just couldn't resist! He is the second person who practically pleaded for me to teach them how to swim.
Billy is a Korean college student who came here on a student visa and barely spoke English. When I first met him in January, he didn't understand a word I said. Since I started working with him during the summer, he has improved both his English and his swimming quite dramatically. Billy has gone from barely being able to swim at all to this in nine lessons:
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He has learned to breathe on both sides; this is his left side breathing:
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Billy has also improved the path of his arms from swinging very wide to a narrower pull:
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Sure, there are a lot of improvements that still need to be made; however, I think he has improved quickly in just nine lessons. Today, I timed him on a 25 yard sprint and he came in at 19 seconds from a weak push off.
So, what do you think? Is his improvement typical for someone his age or is he progressing at a fast rate? I am hoping to convince him to join USMS and compete in some meets with me after the spring semester. He loves to swim and I think he would have a blast.
Billy is starting to think like a competitor. :D On New Year's Eve, he asked if he could join me at Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center where they have starting blocks, so I could teach him block starts. He did a fabulous job, and he had never done a dive before. Too bad I didn't bring my camera that day, because one of this starts was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, on the very next start, he had a severe back spasm and ended up flat-out in the back seat of my car for the drive home. His New Year's Eve was ruined, poor guy. :toohurt:
Anyway, Billy is back to swimming again, after a few weeks of nursing his back and just walking laps in the pool. He has developed a pretty good open turn; however, he is waiting just a little longer before going back to using them during his workouts. In these videos, he just stopped at the end of the pool each time. (By the way, I used my new camera mount/ pvc pipe set up, and it worked great! No more sore knees from kneeling on the pool deck! :banana: )
Here is on Sunday:
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And, here he is breathing to the left:
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Any suggestions and coaching tips would be most appreciated, since Billy is only the second person I have ever taught how to swim. He is now almost as fast as I am!
Billy is starting to think like a competitor. :D On New Year's Eve, he asked if he could join me at Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center where they have starting blocks, so I could teach him block starts. He did a fabulous job, and he had never done a dive before. Too bad I didn't bring my camera that day, because one of this starts was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, on the very next start, he had a severe back spasm and ended up flat-out in the back seat of my car for the drive home. His New Year's Eve was ruined, poor guy. :toohurt:
Anyway, Billy is back to swimming again, after a few weeks of nursing his back and just walking laps in the pool. He has developed a pretty good open turn; however, he is waiting just a little longer before going back to using them during his workouts. In these videos, he just stopped at the end of the pool each time. (By the way, I used my new camera mount/ pvc pipe set up, and it worked great! No more sore knees from kneeling on the pool deck! :banana: )
Here is on Sunday:
rMCwiC6z6LY&feature=youtu.be
7iNE7LzNLks&feature=youtu.be
And, here he is breathing to the left:
nuKJ56RybKQ&feature=youtu.be
Any suggestions and coaching tips would be most appreciated, since Billy is only the second person I have ever taught how to swim. He is now almost as fast as I am!
