people who learn the strokes as adults

Originally posted by Backman Rarely have I ever seen butterflyers emerge from a cocoon that dates past the age of eighteen. :) Fly was done with a frog kick until I was almost out of my teens. I never really mastered fly with the frog kick, which seemed to me to be a most awkward stroke. However, in my 40s I taught myself to swim a fly of sorts with the dolphin kick. To get the feel of keeping my feet going up and down together I would tie a rubber tube around my ankles. This was good enough to suffice for a 50 in the 200 IM, but no more. For the past five years ago or so I have had some coaching, and my fly has improved immensely. I have the undulation and the timing down now to the point where I can do a 200 meter fly in competition and not fall apart. In fact, last summer at age 66 I did a personal best in the 200 meter fly - improving a time I did three years ago by five seconds. So, old dogs can still learn new tricks!

Originally posted by Backman Rarely have I ever seen butterflyers emerge from a cocoon that dates past the age of eighteen. :) Fly was done with a frog kick until I was almost out of my teens. I never really mastered fly with the frog kick, which seemed to me to be a most awkward stroke. However, in my 40s I taught myself to swim a fly of sorts with the dolphin kick. To get the feel of keeping my feet going up and down together I would tie a rubber tube around my ankles. This was good enough to suffice for a 50 in the 200 IM, but no more. For the past five years ago or so I have had some coaching, and my fly has improved immensely. I have the undulation and the timing down now to the point where I can do a 200 meter fly in competition and not fall apart. In fact, last summer at age 66 I did a personal best in the 200 meter fly - improving a time I did three years ago by five seconds. So, old dogs can still learn new tricks!