Hello,
My husband is just learning to swim after 48 years of being terrified of the water. He's doing very well, and can do the crawl from one end of the pool (25m) to the other, but he does it with his face in the water the entire time, because he hasn't conquered the breathing technique. Needless to say, he can only do one length at a time. When he tries to breathe, he has difficulty with the timing, and ends up getting mouthfuls of water. He is getting frustrated, but he knows he can't continue the face-down crawl and expect to improve his swimming.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated. He has spent some time with a swimming coach, but because of schedules, it is limited. He is also reading Total Immersion, but that really doesn't address new swimmers' issues such as this.
Thanks,
Deb
Parents
Former Member
Deb,
I have two ideas:
First: a mask and snorkle. I chatted with a lap swimmer who uses these all the time. He has some neck injury issues, and he does not want to turn his head to breath. Use a snorkle, and voila, problem solved. Sometimes we swimmers get wrapped up in learning how to do strokes that are legal for competition. But, if someone is not interested in competition, what's the point? Your husband might use this as a way to go farther without having to wait to get proficient with breathing. It can also let him get real comfortable with the TI recommended head position.
Second: Since he is reading TI, just learn the drills in the order they are presented! He won't get to whole stroke swimming for a number of practices, but so what? If he simply learns each drill in sequence, he will not need to learn how to breath until the end of the drill sequence, and he will learn how to swim well at the end of them. (And, since he may be buying a mask and snorkle anyway, get a set of fins too. He can use them to get more comfortable with the early drills that require kicking to move forward. Like the book says, fins are not cheating. They are a training aid so he can relax and learn the skill, rather than exhaust himself because he has a weak kick.)
OK Paul, feel free to flame me again for shilling for TI, but let the record reflect that they were already reading the book BEFORE I said a word.
Matt
Deb,
I have two ideas:
First: a mask and snorkle. I chatted with a lap swimmer who uses these all the time. He has some neck injury issues, and he does not want to turn his head to breath. Use a snorkle, and voila, problem solved. Sometimes we swimmers get wrapped up in learning how to do strokes that are legal for competition. But, if someone is not interested in competition, what's the point? Your husband might use this as a way to go farther without having to wait to get proficient with breathing. It can also let him get real comfortable with the TI recommended head position.
Second: Since he is reading TI, just learn the drills in the order they are presented! He won't get to whole stroke swimming for a number of practices, but so what? If he simply learns each drill in sequence, he will not need to learn how to breath until the end of the drill sequence, and he will learn how to swim well at the end of them. (And, since he may be buying a mask and snorkle anyway, get a set of fins too. He can use them to get more comfortable with the early drills that require kicking to move forward. Like the book says, fins are not cheating. They are a training aid so he can relax and learn the skill, rather than exhaust himself because he has a weak kick.)
OK Paul, feel free to flame me again for shilling for TI, but let the record reflect that they were already reading the book BEFORE I said a word.
Matt
