Day 3: Diving!!!

This past Saturday's class started off with my instructor telling me to 200 meters of Freestyling. Which I found out that each lap (swimming to the other side of pool and then back) was only 50 meters! So I had to do that 4 times which was killer on my arms and legs! The rhythm of breathing did go better this time, I was better about turning my head to the side and rotating my body enough to take in the air with out lifting my head up. But on lap 3.5, I definitely tried to breathe while still under water! Yikes! I think as I got tired my breathing would increase, just like when I run and start to pant - I got a bit out of sync!

What I looked like when I tried to breath underwater. Not an exaggeration...

After that, I was handed a kick-board and was told to work on my kicking for 200 meters. Now this was hard!! After one lap I was ready to take a nap and massage my legs! But I kept on! Taking mini breaks in between each lap. Thankful that I was told I could keep my head out of the water during this exercise. I switched it up each lap by kicking really fast one way and then gentle kicks coming back. I noticed the faster I kicked, I was more on top the water and when I kicked slower, my legs would sink deeper. Hmmmm... good to know! See this neat little video below about how to use a kick-board! I have just used the style where I am on my belly and holding on to the board with outstretched arms. But I  would love to try the backstroke style!

Diving!

After I finished that, my instructor took all of us down to the deep end of the pool. We was working with the very beginner students, showing them how to sink down in the water, maybe even to the bottom, and then push off the floor and swim to the top! While he did that, he told me to try diving! So first he said "Show me your dive" So I dove. Now keep in mind the only diving I have ever done is off a diving board at the community pool. Which was straight down. And beautiful if I do say so myself! But this class is focused on lap swimming and/or racing so it is important for the dive to go out rather than down. And he had me start kneeling (we didn't have the starting dive blocks like the pros). So I tried it - Go for the distance!!!

wah-wah-waaaahhhh

Not quite what I planned... It kinda hurt, my face, neck and chest. I think the fact I was wearing a one piece swimsuit helped the stinging from happening on my stomach! I was a little embarrassed about belly flopping, but you know what? We all do it at least a couple times in our lives so I shook it off and tried it again! It went better, but I still dove a little too deep. While my instructor was working with the other students, he had the life guard, AJ, give me advice and pointers which really helped.

AJ had me start sprinting (swim-wise) to the other end of the pool after I dove, then get out and walk back, and do it all again. We did this about 8 times. Sometimes I felt that my dive was more shallow and other times, it was definitely too deep. I knew this because when I tried to get to the surface to start my freestyle...it wasn't there! I was still very much under water and it seemed like feet away from the surface. AJ suggested that I try doing the streamline or Dolphin kick (remember my Patronus!!!) after my dive to help get me to move further in the water and it will help me break through the surface easier too.

This did help a bit, but I kept diving too deep. I tried to correct this only by doing 2 more belly flops. Oh well, by the end of class I was exhausted and just kept getting worse. But that's okay! It is something that I am ready to tackle next time!!

Next Week

By the way, I have to skip next Saturday's class because I am in a community theater production of "HAIRSPRAY" where I get to play the mean and snobby Amber Von Tussle!!! Awesome!! But anyways, we are in our tech week so I will be making up my missed swim class at a later date! So I will blog then! But in the meantime if you are interested in checking out our show here is all the info!!! Click here for tickets