Feel like I am preaching to the converted here, but it is amazing the difference a little bit of specific training can make.
For a few years a favourite little event of mine has been the Jindabyne Multi Sport Classic. It has always been a great weekend, a couple of friends together to push (hurt) ourselves in the high country. Each year I have finished thinking that maybe I will train a bit more next time, then it won’t hurt so much and I might be a bit faster.
Every year I have done the swims, a few times I added in a run and the lovely 42km mountain bike stage. My swims have always been ok as I generally swim 2-3 times a week, and very comfortably swim 1.5km in 30 minutes in the pool. Every year I would be a bit disappointed to see that in Lake Jindabyne I was always about 33 minutes.
In the lead up to the 2010 event I thought perhaps I will add a session with a swim squad, see if they can help do the same time in the lake as I can achieve in the pool. Plus doing that training that I always had said I would do, I might not hurt so much if I didn’t get faster.
So with about 6 weeks to go I set off to Exceed squad training on a Tuesday night and I went once on a Thursday night as well.
A couple of weeks with Freestyle Development fixing up some stroke problems I had, with some drill work and a few fitness sets. I then would concentrate on those stroke issues when ever I swam during the rest of the week. A couple of weeks of specific fitness sets in the main squad, still trying to make sure my stroke stayed right.
Soon enough it was race day. Initially after my swims I didn’t think I would be that much faster then years gone by. Maybe 2-4 minutes quicker on each swim, I would have been happy with that. I didn’t have any specific race plans, hadn’t done much in the open water so sighting was always going to be a problem. All I did was try to keep good form (as instructed) and I would just try to hold what I thought was a good pace as the set work with the main squad had me doing in the pool.
So did it pay off? You bet it did, check out my times.
I am inspired, so look out you race people, I am going to start training now. It really helps.
Thanks Exceed.
Halsha Markowski
I am 64 years old and have never learnt to swim (I taught myself badly a little breaststroke, however, this only instilled bad habits). Furthermore, I have a serious fear of water. Before starting with exceedfitness I would have frequent panic attacks in the water, which caused painful cramps. On the whole, swimming was not an enjoyable experience.
I had previously tried to have a group lesson (with a different swimming coach). However, in a group of 7 or 8 I felt completely lost and scared. I then gave myself a fright by going under and gulping some water. I never wanted to swim again, I had no confidence that I could float in water and was sure I would drown instantly if I attempted to. All of this is to give an idea of the enormous challenge my instructor had to contend with!
I had my first swimming lesson with her in January. At the beginning I remember grasping her hands in panic whenever I had to move away from her. However, although I was confronting my fear of water, from the moment I started the lesson I knew I was in good hands. I trusted my instructor and I found her quietly confident which in turn built my confidence.
She started by familiarising me with water and doing some recovery exercises. Starting in the shallow pool, she taught me to be relaxed in water eg.lie down on my back, or glide from side to side of the pool. She also corrected the technical mistakes in my breaststroke, standing next to me when I swam. Each new achievement was always greeted by her with enthusiasm and encouragement. She also always reminded me how much I had achieved, which allowed me to not get too frustrated with myself.
Each time she had a new move for me, she started the sentence by saying ....”So”..... I knew then something new will be expected of me. First I feared these moments, ”So” signalled going out of my comfort zone. But after a few lessons I was looking forward to it because being in the water and learning to swim became good fun.
After 64 years of being afraid, having fun in the water was incredible!
At this point I went to the beach for a two week holiday and for the first time I was able to enjoy the water. I did not go out of my depth, however, I wanted to swim every day.
My last challenge was to learn to swim out of my depth confidently. In my final swimming lesson this is exactly what we did! Within 4 months of patience and gentle guidance I went from being panic stricken by water to being a water baby.Incredibly, my fear is finally at bay and thanks to my instructor, I can now say “I can swim”.
