I Learned To Crawl

I took swimming lessons in the 1960’s at Lake McCarron. I rode my bike to a bus stop a half-mile away and left my bike in a friend’s lawn. All the swimmers in our neighborhood rode the school bus to the lake every morning for a couple weeks in the summer.. We’d wear our swimsuits under our clothes and carry our towels. The only reason lessons would be cancelled was if the temperature was below 50 degrees. Otherwise we were on. We were grouped into beginners, advanced beginners, and intermediate. I think the instructors might have been affiliated with the Red Cross. My swim instructors were all patient, understanding, and middle-aged men. We learned the front crawl, the back crawl, the sidestroke, and backstroke. Lake McCarron had a swimming dock a ways out in the water. We had to swim to get to it. Part of the test for advancement was diving off the dock. Diving headfirst into the water held me back from advancement many times. I loved jumping off that dock and I could cannonball but I never liked to go headfirst. Although my instructor passed me on the front crawl, I never did perfect that stroke. I always had to stop to rub the water out of my eyes. I preferred to dog paddle my way around. So guess what? This week I got it. I can do the front crawl correctly. I swim in the morning three times a week. I invested in a seven-dollar pair of speedo goggles and I think they have made all the difference. My first experience with the goggles was odd. I had to force myself to keep my eyes open. I would reflexively close my eyes every time. I got over that. I’m surprised how fast I got the breathing pattern down. I keep my forehead in the water and look back over my shoulder to take a breath. I exhale in the water between breaths. The trick is to budget the air in my lungs so I can keep exhaling until the next inhale. I alternate taking breaths on the right and the left. This seems like the best plan because it helps me swim in a straight line and every three strokes in about when I need another breath. Today was the first time I swam the front crawl for the entire hour. I’m feeling it in my arms too. I am very aware of my triceps because they’ve been aching in a good way all day.