Becoming a Swimmer (or at least someone who can swim)

So I have been thinking about my progression through swimming, as it was 2 years ago that I did my first flip turn. I reported in my training log that I “almost died cuz I had to hold my breath so long.” Can’t say a whole lot has changed in that regard :P but it does make me think about my progression towards joining the varsity swim team- which I absolutely love.

Originally I started swimming because I had a stress fracture and swimming was just about the only thing I could do that wasn’t painful. This was beginning of December 2011. Every day I went to the pool and swam continuously for 60-75 minutes. There was no plan, no workout, just lap, after lap, after lap. I decided that flip turns would probably be quicker than open turns, so gradually began my progression towards doing them. The first time I did them, I think I managed about 7 flip turns in 75 minutes of swimming. It wasn’t fun, but it was something to work on, so I kept at it. I continued with my endless lap swimming until about April of 2012, by which time it was getting pretty boring. I thought maybe I’ mix it up a bit. So I found a workout that I did twice a week (the other days continued to be my lap swimming). The workout was anything but exciting. It was warm-up (which I did as freestyle) then 5X500- 1 and 3 were free, 2 and 4 were pull, and the last one was 2x250, with the 2^nd and 4^th 50’s as fast. So not really much different to just swimming laps. That summer I was back in school (after being on a co-op term) and was swimming from 8-9am at the university pool. My initial intention was to continue what I was doing, however there was a large group who were there every morning, taking up both the fast lanes and doing a workout, making me swimming laps rather difficult. They asked if I wanted to join them. I did not- why on earth would I want to do a workout??? But a couple more days of getting in each other’s way and I decided, why not, I’ll give it a try and decide from there. Turns out it wasn’t too bad and I stayed with them throughout the summer, and remarkably, improved my swimming :P I guess it was by this point that I was starting to enjoy swimming, not to mention that I this is when I started doing triathlons and absolutely loved them, which gave my swim training a purpose. So I had progressed from “I am only doing this because I can’t run” to “I actually kinda like swimming.” Some of the people I was swimming with in the morning asked if I would ever consider joining varsity, to which I scoffed “of course not, I’m a runner, and there is no way I’d be fast enough.” Little did I know….

I was back on co-op in the fall, but kept up doing workouts in the morning and was very dedicated to actually becoming a better swimmer. I had talked to a couple of people at the triathlon club at Waterloo and they suggested that I ask the swim coach if I could train with the team a couple times a week when I was back in school. By this point in time I was fully committed to becoming a triathlete and was looking for any way to get the best training possible.  I contacted the coach and it was arranged that come January, I could train with the team twice a week until their season was over, at which point I could come more often.  As Facebook kindly reminded me at the end of 2013, my first varsity swim workout on January 10^th was apparently a highlight of the year for me- probably fairly accurate. I loved it. It is so much nicer begin able to swim with other people and gives me much more motivation to actually try really hard. Over the semester I got better and better- I went from 1:12 for 100 yards in January to 1:07 by April. Pretty remarkable. I was asked many times throughout the semester whether I would join the swim team in September. Initially I just laughed and said “there is no way I will be fast enough to join.” Everyone assured me I would be, but I had serious doubts. However, as my swimming improved the idea of actually being on the team became more enticing, and more realistic. By this time I was completely enjoying the swimming and loved the people on the team.

The summer certainly did not help my swimming. I was on my own and initially the motivation was high to train hard, but then I started working and could only swim for an hour at a time, in a shitty pool, and the motivation waned. Needless to say, I got slower, and truth be told, my swimming in London was abysmal.

However, I still wanted to join the swim team in September, so when I got back from London I started training with them. This was agony. I was frustratingly slow and unfit (in terms of swimming). The swim coach (Jeff Slater) is fantastic though and I kept working hard, and eventually things started to come together.  Now I can hit 1:05 for 100 yards, which is still slower than anyone else on the team, but long-distance is more my thing- 100 yards and I’m still warming up :P

So there you have it- two years ago I couldn’t do a flip turn, and now I’m swimming with the varsity swim team. So I believe anyone can learn to swim- and the same principles apply for any other sport. Stay dedicated, do the work, set your goals high, and you can achieve whatever you want.