I'm a newbie and just had my first practice yesterday sharing the lane with other swimmers. There were five of us, and it was horrible. I could barely get across one length of the pool and I actually panicked because I've never swum with others in the lane, certainly not four or five other people, and I was afraid of hitting or being hit. I stayed close to the rope, so much that I hit it a few times. Now I'm thinking, should I have joined this program? Am I one of those people who just prefers to swim alone? It was pretty scary.
I know those of you who do this all the time probably think, pffffft. No biggie. But I've never been so tense in the pool and when I swim on my own, I'm fine, do lots of laps for about an hour with very few breaks, so I know it's not my skill level. But I don't even know if I want to go back to a practice. I got bumped a few times, bumped into someone else, and basically made a fool of myself.
I also noticed that certain people displace the water an awful lot, and that was a new sensation.
I, too, suffer from Meniere's but swimming seems to actually help - though I don't do, and never have done, flip turns.
:bighug: You get an extra hug of empathy for also having Meniere's! Here is some unsolicited advice: DO NOT TRY REPETITIVE FLIP TURNS! :eek: Before I developed Meniere's, I had a pretty darn good flip turn when I swam competitively back in high school. Meniere's came on about ten years ago when I was a gym rat rather than a swimmer, so it never occured to me to make a connection between Meniere's and flip turns.
After joining USMS in 2010, I decided to practice my flip turns to get ready for competition. I could never figure out why the first flip turn was awesome, the second one was pretty good, the third one was good, the fourth one was fair, and, well, by the fifth one, I was starting to lose sense of which way was up, down, left, or right! :shakeshead:The more I practiced the worse I got, so I thought maybe I was over-thinking the technique as I tried to tweak my turn. It wasn't until I decided to do some 25 yard sprints from the center of the pool into the turn and back that I knew something was up, if you know what I mean. :bolt:
Needless to say, I gave a long hard thought to the issue as I recoved up on deck with my head between my knees. It was an "Aha!" moment I would never like to repeat.
Another bit of unsolicited advice: If you decide to do any open water swims, MAKE SURE TO SITE OFTEN! My first open water swim after getting Meniere's was a 3K in a lake where I couldn't see the bottom. I got very disoriented and seasick during the first leg of the swim-- until I increased my siting of the buoy. Once I decreased my stroke count between sitings and had a fixed point to refer to frequently, I was fine.
Good luck, Denise. I hope you didn't mind my unsolicited advice! :blah:
I, too, suffer from Meniere's but swimming seems to actually help - though I don't do, and never have done, flip turns.
:bighug: You get an extra hug of empathy for also having Meniere's! Here is some unsolicited advice: DO NOT TRY REPETITIVE FLIP TURNS! :eek: Before I developed Meniere's, I had a pretty darn good flip turn when I swam competitively back in high school. Meniere's came on about ten years ago when I was a gym rat rather than a swimmer, so it never occured to me to make a connection between Meniere's and flip turns.
After joining USMS in 2010, I decided to practice my flip turns to get ready for competition. I could never figure out why the first flip turn was awesome, the second one was pretty good, the third one was good, the fourth one was fair, and, well, by the fifth one, I was starting to lose sense of which way was up, down, left, or right! :shakeshead:The more I practiced the worse I got, so I thought maybe I was over-thinking the technique as I tried to tweak my turn. It wasn't until I decided to do some 25 yard sprints from the center of the pool into the turn and back that I knew something was up, if you know what I mean. :bolt:
Needless to say, I gave a long hard thought to the issue as I recoved up on deck with my head between my knees. It was an "Aha!" moment I would never like to repeat.
Another bit of unsolicited advice: If you decide to do any open water swims, MAKE SURE TO SITE OFTEN! My first open water swim after getting Meniere's was a 3K in a lake where I couldn't see the bottom. I got very disoriented and seasick during the first leg of the swim-- until I increased my siting of the buoy. Once I decreased my stroke count between sitings and had a fixed point to refer to frequently, I was fine.
Good luck, Denise. I hope you didn't mind my unsolicited advice! :blah:
