Ok, here is some info, I am 23 years old, I am 6'3 and I weigh 185 pounds. I have been actively working out for the past 4 years, and I started out at 140, so I have worked out very hard to get to where I want to be. Now I am just TERRIFIED of water, I have never took swimming lessons at all. I have tried like 5-6 times and was unsucessful, last time I got in the water and it got over my head, I had a panic attack.
However I have been dating this super great athelete, and she is one awesome woman. I love her to death, she works hard and she is really good at what she does. She swims for UT, she was heavily recruited. However she is a breaststroker, and very good at it I must say. I went to 2 meets earlier in the season, and she did very well, and WOW those girls put in a lot of time, at least 4 hours of practice a day,and then weights after that. They work hard, more info can be found here!!
utladyvols.collegesports.com/.../clay_tiffany00.html
Now she has agreed to teach me how to swim, but I am so scared of the water, I am just scared of drowning...I know I know she is not going to let that happen, or the lifeguard either. But I have everything ready.....goggles and nose clip, and I know this is crazy, but I can swim underwater, but not on top of water. But we will see how things go. I am really looking into swimming to help me get better physically and its so healthy for you as well.
Any ideas or suggestions that could help me come over my fear of the water would be greatly appreciate, we are taking off to the pool tommorrow, so I was just curious, is there anything that I can do to help my self and better myself and to mentally prepare myself for this experience. I just don't want to look like a moron that is 23 and don't know how to swim, Its very embarrassing!!
thanks,
P.S. This board rocks!!!
-Viper
Parents
Former Member
Do not worry about looking like an idiot, one day people will ask you how long you have been swimming and will be amazed at your level considering little experience.Besides one day you started lifting and probably thought the same.I "made friends" with swimming 3.5 -4 months ago(I weightlifted for 5 years prior to that, so I know how you feel) and already some people are asking me if I compete for school or have been swimming for a while(well, I swim every day ,sometimes twice a day, too).And you know what?The very beginning is the most rewarding period - you will see some tremendous results right away - very encouraging. There's one thing you might dislike though if you get into swimmig seriously after weightlifting.If you were like me who thought about nothing but gaining muscle weight for 5 years, ate like crazy(5-6 times a day) and achieved pretty respectful bulk of muscles, you should be ready to put up with dropping some weight if you swim a lot, that's what happened to me.But instead of 6-pack that I used to have, mine transformed into an 8-pack(I am not kidding).Those muscles that you have will look rock solid!!!Trust me.
So welcome to the water!
Do not worry about looking like an idiot, one day people will ask you how long you have been swimming and will be amazed at your level considering little experience.Besides one day you started lifting and probably thought the same.I "made friends" with swimming 3.5 -4 months ago(I weightlifted for 5 years prior to that, so I know how you feel) and already some people are asking me if I compete for school or have been swimming for a while(well, I swim every day ,sometimes twice a day, too).And you know what?The very beginning is the most rewarding period - you will see some tremendous results right away - very encouraging. There's one thing you might dislike though if you get into swimmig seriously after weightlifting.If you were like me who thought about nothing but gaining muscle weight for 5 years, ate like crazy(5-6 times a day) and achieved pretty respectful bulk of muscles, you should be ready to put up with dropping some weight if you swim a lot, that's what happened to me.But instead of 6-pack that I used to have, mine transformed into an 8-pack(I am not kidding).Those muscles that you have will look rock solid!!!Trust me.
So welcome to the water!
