Thursday, 15 March 2012

Swims Like a Hammer


Today I faced.....the pool.  Mind over matter I thought.  It’s all in your head I thought.  Just jump in, lots of mammals swim in water I thought.  Survival instinct will kick in I thought.  So after thrashing for three minutes with my head under water, my hand miraculously found grasp of some form of yellow ducky flotation device.  

What kind of a lucky day am I having, this pool for some reason has floaty mats and pool noodles all over its surface! Pulling my near drowned body onto the side, there was the answer. A sign as clear as day.  'NO DIVING  1.0m'.  I knew it, this water was 1 mile deep and too treacherous for anyone to swim, that must be why all the odd flotation instruments, they were probably thrown in to save at least a hundred other people that probably already drowned. 

To be truthful, I am not useless in water.  I actually have had more swimming lessons than most.  If you drop me in the middle of a lake, I will get to the shore, even if it means crawling the distance along the bottom.  But it is something I feel I have failed at and turned my back on.  It has been a dark spot on my record for as long as I can remember.  Now it is a personal goal of the I Ho Chuan.  

I have an OK stroke, a decent kick, and I float slightly better than an anvil.  The problem is, breathing.  If I could channel the energy my brain puts into blocking my breathing mechanism during swimming, I would be able to bend spoons......

2 comments:

  1. Have you tried with a snorkel to get comfy with breathing? Also the backstroke does not require face in water and no one said that swimming MUST be the front crawl. Dennis also swims like a rock. Lifeguard status and easily sinks so you're not the only one. :)

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    1. I appreciate the advice. With the backstroke I can swim the English Channel, and am quite comfortable with a snorkel. Turn things into the front crawl or similar, and the wheels fall off.

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