Hi, guys, I'm 20 years old and I've decided to take up some swimming classes for my next quarter. I have been out of athletics for a very long time (for seven years). I haven't done any consistent exercise since my sophomore year HS PE class, and that was almost five years ago. On top of that, I am a writer with all the usual cliché ambitions so I spend a lotta time on my ass. I was looking at some writers' bios recently and you know what I noticed? Very many of them have short lifespans! Haha... oh no. So I realized very quickly I needed to develop a "core exercise" for myself. Since it's a bit late to do anything that's a team sport, it obviously has to be individual. I hate running. Lifting is a bore. Golf is... not ideal. Actually, to be honest, the decision was rather quick. I chose swimming. Now this is very odd for one reason... I'm hearing impaired. How will I hear the instructor/coach? Believe it or not, I actually hear better, much better, when I'm in the water. Go figure. Obviously, not as good as when I'm out of the water with my hearing aids in, but there's something about being in a pool or a body of water that just helps me hear better. For example, I did some laps recently. When I checked in with the lifeguards, I had to ask them to repeat themselves. Then I got in a lane and struck up a conversation with a very buoyant, soft-spoken fellow next to me and not once did I say, "What?"
Maybe the soundwaves bounce against the water and, naturally, my head is in the thick of it?
But I digress...
I'm going to swim. Thankfully, I already know how. I'm sure many of the technique junkies are ready to contend this! I took swim lessons when I was a wee lad, loved it all except the springboard. Then I jumped and I loved that too. I can't dive, though... I do the, what is it, the bunny hop? My legs bend when I go into the water. Anyway, hahah, once I remember arguing with a swim instructor at a Water Babies school (and he was an Olympian) about the word "freestyle"... it was my first argument over semantics. He tells me to do some freestyle and then I start swimming backstroke (my favorite back then). I figure, "free... style", right? So I do whatever I want! How did they start calling it "freestyle" anyway?
So my swimming never really got anywhere but then along comes eighth grade and I'm figuring out what I want to do with high school. I let the family know I'm interested in swimming or water polo... something water related, you know? My brothers absolutely hated the idea. They tried to get me interested in football and wrestling, even started teaching me moves... well, of course, I hated that idea. My goal the entire time had been to distinguish myself from the rest of the family, you know? Well that did go somewhere... I ended up joining nothing at all. Not good. But on the flip side, I did write more than I would've, and that's always good.
So for most of high school and the beginning of college, I was extremely inactive. I also gorged myself on sodas and candy. Plus, I all but eliminated breakfast from my diet. I wonder if I stunted myself at all. I know for a fact I measured 6'2 without shoes in my sophomore year and then about a year ago my dad measured me and I was 6'0... oh dear God. At least I put on weight well. In senior year when the homeroom teacher asked us all for our weight, and I said 234, everyone in the classroom was audibly disbelieving. But the scale does not lie.
Now that I'm getting back into things, I've been on a diet. Quite pleased with my results so far. After losing about seven pounds last summer for my brother's wedding, I lost about another four pounds until the week of Thanksgiving last month when I eliminated soda and candy. That hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I've gone from 223 to 208 where I am now. I also measure 6'1.5 now. Naturally I've been curious about some of my bodily dimensions... I'm quite pleased to have a 6'6 armspan. I wish I had larger feet though (size 12). I don't think there's much I can do about that.
Sorry if this is all very long-winded or totally tl; dr!
I like this forum a lot. I've been lurking here for about a week and looking at threads old and new. It's awesome that you all capitalize the beginning of your sentences and end them with periods.... unlike some other places I could name.
So now... whose bums do I have to kiss? :bow:
Former Member
Is your caps lock key broken, dude? :afraid:
Hmm. Monkey on my back, huh? That's a good way of putting it. And 66 percent? That's a lot more than I thought it would be. I do wonder if I bend me knees too much. Oh, and in backstroke, apparently my toes (and just my toes) have to splash above the water. But should the feet still be floppy or what?
And thanks for the compliment, I suppose. My commitment, heh. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not committing enough. ;)
Ack! Now I'm getting nervous. So the swim meet that was scheduled for tomorrow was cancelled, but then another one was scheduled last minute and we're doing something tomorrow anyway. How can they play ping-pong with my anticipation and expectations like this?! How am I even going to get sleep tonight? Someone come over to my house and knock me out with a club, please. I don't even know whether I should shave. My coaches never said anything about it!
How can I even possibly be ready?!
I haven't competed in any sport for seven years! I must've been insane! I'm not ready. Not.
Right now, all I wanna do until tomorrow morning is this...
:bed:
Remember that on any forum, you will get advice from people that you may or may not find useful. Take what you can use & try not to get caught uo in all of the extres!
Back. First meet. After 14 days of team, my times:
100 back: 1:54:?? (I forget the millis).
100 free: 1:19:92 (I beat 1:20 by eight one-hundredths of a second).
On the back, I think I started out too fast. Oh, and then at the end of the first 25, I freakin' rammed into the wall and was stunned for a fraction of a second.
I finished dead middle in both.
I must say, the whole event was much funner and more relaxing than I thought it would be. Great excitement.
As for the whole shaving thing... er, yeah, it may be a good idea to wait on that. But then again, I do already feel like I'm wearing a carpet or something... Chewbacca suit? I was the hairiest guy out there! But you're right, I am in that phase of rapid development...
things to work on:
endurance
splitting
flip turns (I didn't do at meet)
back flip
dolphin kick, as always
dive
Good job Couroboros. That 100 free time is a good time considering you are truly new to swimming and you did open turns. You probably won't be amazed to find out that you back time will drop considerably when you progress from ramming to flip turning.
I was looking at your list of things to work on. Back flips are really cool, but... :)
Am I too late with the club? :D
Don't shave. You didn't taper for this meet, and you are at a point where you are improving so fast that shaving isn't going to be meaningful. No matter what times you go this meet, your next meet will be faster, just because your body is still adapting to competitive swimming. Once you level out, talk to your coach about focus meets, focus events and stuff like that.
I mean, you are still wearing board shorts. You are going to feel like a race car the first time you pull on a pair of jammers.
I mean when you start backstroke! Did I call it the wrong thing? :bolt:
Those are just backstroke starts. Back flips are not legal backstroke starts, but the do look cool, so no harm working on them.
