Adventures are a curious thing. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that some of them happen instantly, others need to be planned. There are some that seem to elicit a “continuous, ongoing effort.” This entry falls into that category.

I learned to swim when I was fourteen. Prior to that, I was afraid of the water, and would hardly go in at all. What got me over my fear was a promise from my step-father Stu that he would buy a family boat if I learned to swim. So that year at camp I dedicated myself to learning, and although I did not pass my deep water test, I had finally overcome the fear. That was good enough for Stu, and the “Gefilta Fish” soon appeared in our driveway. It was a tiny 14′ Bayliner, but was a total joy to me. We would take trips, sometimes overnight. I took a Power Squadron safe boating class and learned to navigate from charts using a parallel ruler. People passing in other boats would often ask us if we had any horse radish to go with the gefilta fish, and we kept a fake bottle in the glove box to show them!

As my love for the boat grew, my fear of the water completely faded. I was comfortable with the breast stroke, side stroke and even the backstroke. I loved to snorkel, and eventually as an adult became a certified diver.

One thing I never learned, was to do a freestyle or “crawl” stroke. How swimmers in this stroke were able to breath, while kicking and moving their arms was never clear to me, and despite the efforts of a few classes (and some guidance from my nieces) I could never figure it out.

Since this is my year for adventure, a couple of months ago I started taking classes at Lifetime – with a goal of gaining this new skill. I am signed up for a group class with coach Katrina, and one other gentleman named Satish. Tom also joined us just this past week.

It was clear from the start that my mechanics were all over the place. My kick was ineffective and I could only use a kickboard for about 10 meters or so before stopping all forward momentum. My upper body was not rotating sufficiently to permit me to glide or get a breath, and to make matters worse, I was doing it all waaaay too quickly.

So now I am 6 classes in. I can kick across the pool, using my hips instead of my knees. Using a pool buoy between my legs, I can rotate my upper body and breath naturally with a steady rhythm for up to 4 laps at a time. I am able to slow down and enjoy the experience. It feels really good to make progress, and I am hoping to be able to do all three of these things at the same time soon. I will keep you updated on my progress!

Update 5/16/25

Last week I swam my first lap of the pool using my new skills. Today I did two. The breathing is beginning to come naturally and can sometimes do it without even thinking. Today’s lesson was focused on upper body and we are trying to streamline the stroke, to increase speed, reduce drag and and add distance. I did six laps easily with the pool buoy supporting my lower body. My goal is to swim across our section of Candlewood Lake later this summer. That’s about 20 laps of the pool. Making progress!

Update 11/18/25

So many things have happened since the last update! In June, Coach Katrina told us she was being promoted and could no longer teach our class. For a couple of weeks, I was lost, until I discovered that Jordan, who is the head instructor taught adult class on Wednesdays. So I immediately signed up with him. I had met him at an introductory session and he is a wonderful teacher. My kick is strong, my breathing flexible. He drills me to breathe every three strokes, then five, seven and even nine.

I ran into Jordan while showing Ali around the club and thanked him for helping me. He turned it around and said I was helping him. I was confused, so he explained “I usually don’t like to teach adults, because they fail to learn or improve – but you are doing both, and it’s my pleasure.”

I suspect I have attended more than twenty classes so far, and although progress is slow, I feel I am steadily improving. Most of the lessons occur in the shorter pool, which is 18.5 yards. In the past couple of weeks, I have transitioned for my practices to the Olympic sized pool – 25 meters, or about 35% longer. Today was the first time that I was able to swim 12 laps. Some of these were with the pool buoy, some with a kick-board, some side or breast stroke, and all with some sort of rest. However, there were several decent freestyle laps in there and I am beginning to adapt to the difference in distance. More importantly, I am slowing down to go further.