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
Well, I don't have any advice to give, but I just wanted to offer a few words of encouragement. I myself never ever swam until age 40, when running injuries limited my exercise options. I'm still a lousy swimmer, but I've gotten much better, and I really enjoy it. Tell your husband that if I can do it, then anybody can.
Two books that really helped me were: The Complete Book of Swimming by Phil Whitten, and Swimming for Total Fitness by Jane Katz. The latter is appropriate for beginners, and will address the issues you raised. Whitten's book contains not only technical instruction, but talks about swimming in the context of health and living life to the fullest -- it is most inspiring.
Well, I don't have any advice to give, but I just wanted to offer a few words of encouragement. I myself never ever swam until age 40, when running injuries limited my exercise options. I'm still a lousy swimmer, but I've gotten much better, and I really enjoy it. Tell your husband that if I can do it, then anybody can.
Two books that really helped me were: The Complete Book of Swimming by Phil Whitten, and Swimming for Total Fitness by Jane Katz. The latter is appropriate for beginners, and will address the issues you raised. Whitten's book contains not only technical instruction, but talks about swimming in the context of health and living life to the fullest -- it is most inspiring.
