Hey, solo swimmers! :wave: Welcome to the thread for all of us who train solo. Whether you train on your own due to a lack of a Masters team in your area (or for any other reason), this is our virtual locker room. Please post training tips that you think would be helpful, or anything else you would like to share with the rest of us. Have a rant? Go ahead and vent here! :rantonoff:
I'll start with a tip:
The most frustrating thing for me training solo is not having a coach on deck to evaluate my stroke and keep me on track, so I bought a waterproof camera and enlisted the help of my husband to periodically shoot video of all four strokes. Shooting underwater video became a knee/back buster, so I bought a camera mount and attached it to PVC pipe, so my husband could stand up straight to shoot underwater video. The camera gets dunked underwater, and he twists the pipe to pan the camera as I swim by.
Today, I bought a 2-pack of 12-inch "Gear Tie" reusable rubber twist ties (available at Home Depot), so I can tie the PVC pipe to the pool ladder (located in the corner of the pool) and shoot video myself. (If I angle the camera just right and keep it on wide angle, I can video me coming and going.)
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After each video session, I upload the videos to my desktop computer and compare my stroke to my favorite Go Swim stroke videos to see what I'm doing well (or not). I also post them on the Forums for feedback.
Ok, solo swimmers, what's your tip?
Had forgotten about this thread. So a couple of funny ones. A lady I've now seen a couple of times. Elderly, Asian*. First time I saw her in the pool, she was doing something resembling *** stroke, but she wouldn't get her face in the water. I offered to lend her my spare goggles. She declined. So I eventually notice that she has a paper towel at the end of the pool, and every time she finished a lap, she would use it to dry off her face. Kind of weird to swim if one doesn't want to get their face wet.
Next one. Some of the water aerobic/zoomba folks. There are some new ones (ladies). They wear gym shorts and some kind of shirts in the water. No idea if there are suits under them, or just the clothes. And shower caps. You know, those big clear, thin plastic things with the elastic? Yep, those.
* Not sure how many have known many/any Asian folks who swim. From talking to a fellow parent (on my kids' team), apparently, at least in some parts of China, maybe more widespread, *** stroke is the default stroke people there learn to swim in the same way that we learn freestyle. Only mentioned that since I mentioned her swimming *** stroke, and why I didn't really think much of it other than her unwillingness to get her face wet.
Had forgotten about this thread. So a couple of funny ones. A lady I've now seen a couple of times. Elderly, Asian*. First time I saw her in the pool, she was doing something resembling *** stroke, but she wouldn't get her face in the water. I offered to lend her my spare goggles. She declined. So I eventually notice that she has a paper towel at the end of the pool, and every time she finished a lap, she would use it to dry off her face. Kind of weird to swim if one doesn't want to get their face wet.
Next one. Some of the water aerobic/zoomba folks. There are some new ones (ladies). They wear gym shorts and some kind of shirts in the water. No idea if there are suits under them, or just the clothes. And shower caps. You know, those big clear, thin plastic things with the elastic? Yep, those.
* Not sure how many have known many/any Asian folks who swim. From talking to a fellow parent (on my kids' team), apparently, at least in some parts of China, maybe more widespread, *** stroke is the default stroke people there learn to swim in the same way that we learn freestyle. Only mentioned that since I mentioned her swimming *** stroke, and why I didn't really think much of it other than her unwillingness to get her face wet.
