Including me, there were only two people in my lane today. My lane-mate, Mike the bald guy, is faster than I am...not significantly but enough that lane splitting made more sense than circle swimming.
But, alas, this too was challenging. Not in the sense that it was difficult but it challenged me to try to keep up with Mike. And I kind of did. More accurately, I really TRIED to keep up with him. And what happens when I *try* to swim fast? I swim sloppy.
So I got pulled aside by the coach on deck and he gave me some pointers that I should know but don't always put into practice. The best part is that from then on I knew he was watching and I really had to concentrate on that long glide and keeping one of my goggles in the water while breathing. It helped, my stroke count dropped by about 5 and I was certainly not working as hard. Mike was still faster but not by as much.
So it worked and I now know I have to be careful when I try my sloppy tired stroke. Coaches could be watching.
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Ha ha ha I know that feeling one of the lifeguards at the local pool is also a swim instructor, and when the pool isn't too crowded he keeps an eye on each swimmer's technique.
ReplyDeleteI've got unsolicited advice on my stroke more than once and since then I always try to polish my stroke when he's on duty :-).
By the way I've added your blog at the links section on my site because I really like it.
Have a look at:
http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/swimming-links.html. Hope you'll like it too. ;-)
Cheers