Lap Swimming Fundamentals: Learn How to Breathe Correctly

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Tina Ramser

I’m a successful adult and child swim teacher with 15 years of experience, but here’s how I almost gave up on learning lap swimming. Don’t let this story intimidate your swim goals. I’ll get you there in three steps.

Years and years ago, at the age of 23, during my first day of the lifeguard training at the part where we do 8 laps in the pool back-to-back, the instructor stopped me. “I don’t think you are going to be able to do this,” he said to me.

I didn’t get it. What I didn’t get was why a very athletic person like myself wasn’t just picking lap swimming up. I could see why the instructor had concern — after four laps I was totally winded. I was struggling to breathe. Yet everyone else around me was calming swimming that 200 yards, back and forth, doing flip-turns and pushing off the wall like a ping pong balls. No choking on water, no heavy panting. Yet I was almost hyperventilating. What was I doing wrong?

Step #1: Not being winded has everything to do with how you are breathing and blowing. Swimming laps well isn’t about fast kicks and strong arms and getting to the side as fast as you can. Swimming laps well is first about coordinating your breathing. It is about building distance stamina by making your breathing work for you.

  • FIRST-TIMERS LAP SWIMMING EXERCISE: Start it out slowly and with a kickboard. Body horizontal on the water, begin kicking with straight legs, holding the end of the board not too tight with two hands. With your head looking at the bottom, start to slowly blow bubbles. Now let your left hand go and pull straight down, bringing the arm all the way around to grab the kickboard once again. Move onto the right –  but when that right arm has finished pulling down and is stretched behind you, roll your body to the right side and take a breath. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Soon this exercise is modified to a simple phrase: One arm (bubbles), two arm (bubbles), roll and breathe.

Step #2: Prepare to humble yourself with one-lap victories.Seriously, how many times do you think you need to repeat this process to make it 25 yards, or one end of the pool to the other? For a newbie, I’d say 35 times. That’s 35 inhales and 35 exhales. That’s 70 arms movements, and an innumerable amount of kicks. You’d better paced yourself. Because your goal is to get to the end of the lap without stopping AND not be winded. Then your next goal would be to do two laps and not be winded. And then three laps and not be winded. We call that progress.

  • FIRST-TIMERS LAP SWIMMING WORKOUT GOAL: In swimming one lap is there and back. Each distance is 25 yards. We would be bored to tears (not to mention totally lost) if we just counted laps. So we breakdown a workout like so:
  1. Warm Up/4×25 straight or flutter kick only w/ board (100 yd. or 4 laps);
  2. Conditioning Phase/ 4×50 freestyle stroke (150 yd. or 8 laps with stopping on same end and not both ends);
  3. Cool Down/ 4×25 freestyle slow (100 yd. or 4 laps).
  4. TOTAL WORKOUT = 16 laps or 400 yd.

Step #3: Getting good at lap swimming is a slow-building process.I took to heart what my lifeguard instructor said and had two weeks to prove him different. Everyday I showed up at the pool and practiced. I built up my ability slowly and conditioned myself through proper breathing. There’s really no other way. You cannot “power through” or “bite the bullet” with the sport of swimming (like I did with lacrosse, softball and tennis).

There is a great quote by Arthur Ashe I like to recall when I feel intimated or overwhelmed with something (kind of like how you might be feeling with lap swimming). “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” So start with one good breath at a time. Speed and technique comes later. Want to learn more about how to swim laps on Squidkid.org? My life is dedicated to turning beginners like you into lap swimmers.  Check out these links:

What’s Wrong with My Freestyle Form? Squidkid Answers Your Questions

Freestyle Notes: The Power of Less When You Swim

Freestyle Notes: The Importance of Rotating Breathing

Posted in Swim Lessons & Programs, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

5 Ways to Understand Where a Lifeguard is Coming From

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Katrina

I teach lessons at a pool that is particularly tough on swim safety rules. There are a lot things you cannot do, such as running and jumping into the water or swimming with noodles. Parental supervision rules are complex and pool freedom is broken down by age and ability; it often reads like a law book.

To a newcomer, at a pool like this you might be feeling like you signed up for the wrong place. Who in the world wants the welcoming wagon to be some 17-year old boy telling you what you cannot do in the pool while looking down at you from his vintage white-rimmed Ray-Bans? But you know what … I get it. The longer I teach and the more drowning data and stories I come across, the more I realize it is absolutely important to be super-conservative around a body of water at all times. From a kiddie pool to a river stream, put safety first.

I know lifeguards can look dopey and young.  But if they aren’t giving you slack about something be worried: The tougher the pool policies are, the better trained the lifeguard staff is. And the safer your family will be. Here’s 5 ways to understand where a lifeguard is coming from.

  • They don’t want to tell you what to do, but they are forced to. It takes TONS of courage for a teenager to come over and ask you or your child to stop doing something. They are only doing it because their job is on the line if they don’t. If an accident happens, their response behavior will be reviewed. If they are found negligent, depending on the severity of the accident they can be fired, and the person who certified them is also held accountable, along with the pool manager. It’s a chain of people that take the fall.
  • They cannot take your word for it if they don’t know you. When it comes to swimming, parents constantly over-estimate their child’s cognitive abilities and under-estimate their physical abilities. Those are the Academy of Pediatrician’s words. Until you get to know the lifeguards on duty — meaning chit-chat, letting them see how your kids swim — they are not going to take your word for it about your kid’s awesome swim ability.
  • They only have one set of eyes. Eyes that must scan the entire pool constantly, watching dozens of pool bodies and trying to see below or beyond the splashing. Drownings occur all the time in pools that are under capacity and  fully staffed with seasoned professionals. It’s a stressful job to be accountable for all this as well as what you cannot see.
  • Their life could be changed forever if something bad happens. I don’t even want to “go there” with how I know a few former colleagues feel about having lost a life while on duty. When I was a lifeguard, an older gentleman had a heart attack at the pool I was guarding. He lived, but I will never, ever forgot how terrifying that was. And I will always feel proud about the time I performed a double-rescue with two kids clinging to one another underwater.
  • They are putting themselves on the line to save your life. Every day they come to work they know today could be the day they might have to use CPR. If something bad happens, all eyes are on them to fix the problem. Which is why a lifeguard dedicates so much time to prevention or enforcing safety rules — so they won’t have a problem to fix.
Posted in Children Learning to Swim, Water Safety | Leave a comment

Kick & Hit: When Fighting Can Fend Off a Panicked Swimmer

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Tina Ramser

There are two lessons I teach my students that go against good parental instincts but can make you safer in the water.

Off-Beat Lesson #1: When I teach diving, I warn my kids I will often try and trick them into getting the first and most important rule wrong, which is always dive in the deep end. That I might ask them at any point in a lesson, Hey, let’s go dive in the shallow end! It is the only time I tell them it is okay to say to no to my instruction.

Off-Beat Lesson #2: It is okay to kick and hit someone who is panicking and holding onto you in the water.

Potential multiple drowning situations are one of the most common forms of swimmer distress. One kid gets in over his head and physically uses the child next to him/her to “climb” out of the situation. And they are extremely hard to detect, as the child being held down is out of site.

When I earned my lifeguarding license through American Red Cross, I had a 300-pound male instructor test my ability to get out of a hold by asking me to close my eyes so he could creep up on me while treading and take me under.

I bet that is how a kid feels when a slightly larger and panicked child grabs onto him. The idea is for the child to get away, using whatever means possible. The idea is for the child to go get the proper help. For water safety tips, go to this American Red Cross link.

Posted in Uncategorized, Water Safety | 1 Comment

Taking Young Ones Underwater for the First Time

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Tina Ramser

It’s a comfort thing. A comfort thing that begins with your own.

Taking your infant or toddler between the ages of a few months to almost 3 years of age underwater might first feel like you’re going against an instinct to protect a child from danger. Or maybe it feels extremely natural to you.

What Exactly Happens When You Take Your Child Underwater?
We touched on a recent post here about how babies naturally conserve oxygen when their face is underwater. This is called the “diving response.” The circulating blood utilizes oxygen efficiently, mostly to the brain and heart and can do so for as long as 30 minutes. Then the babies also do what is called the “gag reflex” or a laryngospasm.

  • Gag reflex: When water gets into a baby’s mouth, a spasm of the epiglottis shuts the trachea (windpipe) so water cannot enter the lungs. However, the esophagus which leads to the stomach remains open. Water intoxification is when a baby swallows too much water. Some babies have a stronger gag reflex than others. Cuing and swift submersions help stop water from entering, along with lifting and blowing in the face (both cause babies to hold their breath slightly).

Exactly How Do You Do Take Your Child Underwater?
Mind frame and body language needs to be in confidence mode on your end. Ever heard of the saying, Fake it until you make it? Put on your best face, get your child’s attention, give the cue 1~2~3! and with no hesitation, swiftly take your child under and back up. No matter the reaction — crying, look of surprise, laughter, coughing — your response is positive with smiles and congratulations. Repeat until you feel you both are getting it. A few quick submersions each session is the least-riskiest path.

What if My Child is Not Really an Infant, But a Toddler or Older? Talk to them about what you want to do. Show them how you do it by holding your breath and get them to mimic. Use cuing. If they understand and you get a verbal “no,” measure the intensity of that no. Are they saying “no” because they don’t really know what to expect yet, or is it a tearful “no” developed from a traumatic water experience? If the former, understand they are still young enough that you can get away with trying it. I feel it is only appropriate to control/force submersion to children younger than 4 years of age; however, maybe once a year I force a submersion for a child who is 4 or older, and you should read the exceptions post here.

The older a child is, the harder it is to get them to do a forced submersion with you or even get their face in the water. Regardless if you are not going to start your child on lessons before age 4, you need to start getting them used to their head and face being wet in the pool or the bathtub.

Posted in Children Learning to Swim, Infant & Baby Swimming, Parenting & Swimming, Water Safety | Leave a comment

How To Fight Against Chlorine Damages

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Tina Ramser

Lately my 8-month old little one, Josie, has been coming home after the pool with a rash on her body. I suspect it is a chemical-related burn.

I asked our veteran Head Lifeguard at the JCC about this issue and what could be done about it. Here are some prevention ideas and how to solve the issue if it is plaguing you:

  • Always, always, always rinse your body with clean water before you go in the pool. Dry skin (or hair) is like a sponge and just absorbs whatever you put in it.
  • Remember chlorinated water can cause irreversible damage. Think hair, as in hair is dead. Despite product claims, you cannot heal it or change it back so look out for it now.
  • Massage in some conditioner or hair serum for an extra protector. Neutrogena and John Freida make a silicon serum found in any Target or Walgreens.
  • Don’t swim in a chlorine-shocked pool. If the pool you swim in relies only on chemicals to keep it clean (with or without a recent “accident”, consider a different pool. A well-balanced pool uses salt and advanced sanitizing technology, like a UV light-cleaning system.
  • Rinse well after the swim. There is a rule with washing hands: Wash as long as it takes you to sing the alphabet. Do the same with a post-swim shower.
  • Exfoliate your body if you can. Steaming works great. I also like Jason Organic’s Apricot Scrubble for the face.
  • Stay out of the water. There really isn’t a miracle lotion — wait, there is: Dry land.

Any product I have recommended comes mostly from Paula Begoun, also known as the Cosmetics Cops. She’s been on Oprah recommending products and all that garbage.

I’ve written about his topic before here, but I wrote about it again because Squidkid has been getting a lot of searches lately on this topic.

Posted in Health and Fitness | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Breaking Myths About Water Workouts

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Tina Ramser

It’s usually a big deal for someone who is not used to water workouts to attend to a water aerobic class. For some reason (and yes, many of them are valid), it takes a lot of effort to get the suit on and show up. Here are some of the myths surrounding water workouts:

Myth #1: I won’t get a challenging workout. Shear baloney. Water is 12 times the resistance on land and 820 times thicker than air. You get a 3-D workout and without high-impact that is hard on joints and knees. The key word in water aerobics here is resistance. You will be in charge of your own intensity, but the instructor will act as the driving force.

Myth #2: I don’t want to ruin my hair. You won’t, if you simply rinse it in water before you get in a chlorinated pool — dry hair soaks up whatever you give it. Tie it up if it is long. Look, I have super-long, super-thin hair and mine is not ruined by being in the pool five days a week. Only because I wet it ahead of time and make a conscientious effort not to go underwater if I don’t have to. Water aerobics classes are not designed to have exercises that take you under.

Myth #3: I’m not an accomplished swimmer so I wouldn’t know what I was doing. You don’t have to know your frog kick from your whip kick to do well in a water aerobics class. Water workouts have to do with sustaining proper alignment by using your core muscles to give you a sense of stability in dealing with the buoyancy issue. In other words, be more concerned about posture and finding balance than doing the freestyle. Plus, you wear a float belt the whole time to support your floating.

Myth #4: I look horrible and will feel uncomfortable in a bathing suit. You will not be alone in that feeling, but after a few weeks, you will a) not even care anymore because b) you will be feeling so good about attending class you’ll notice physical and mental changes. It’s not as if all the svelte people attend water aerobics — there are students of ALL shapes, abilities, and sizes; and in suits of ALL shapes, abilities and sizes. You’ll sometimes see me in water-designed cover up clothing, like shirts and shorts.

Myth #5: I don’t have all that time to change, do a wet workout, and then shower. Those are a lot of reasonable excuses, but let me reason with you on a different level that showcases the benefits of doing your workout in the water: A cheaper water bill because you shower at the gym; saving money on hair care because the gym provides it; you don’t wait around for a machine or equipment to become available; and if you are going to change in and out of clothing to workout, don’t you save some time by pulling on just a suit rather than a shirt, shorts, socks, and shoes?

So give water workouts a chance and dive in.

Posted in Health and Fitness, Uncategorized, Water Exercise & Aerobics | 1 Comment

Good-Bye Summer; Hello Fall Swim Lessons!

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Tina Ramser

You don’t want to think about it, but it needs you attention. Could your swimmer need additional lessons even though summer’s over? That’s going to take planning, and planning takes time and energy. You ran out of that right as you got the kids out the door for the first day of school. But I but bet I can inspire you to get swimming with just a few simple reminders:

  • The busy swim season is BEHIND you. June and July are any swim program’s busiest months. Call up now an you’ll get quick service and maybe even a one-on-one assessment over the phone from an excellent teacher or program manager.
  • You’ve answered your ‘what-do-I-do-after-school’ problem. What activity could possibly beat swimming? It’s about learning about safety, being athletic, not getting dirty, not sitting in front of a screen and not consuming stuff.

  • Book lessons once, and book lessons well. Planning removes … well … more planning. If you know when the kids are out on vacation, make life easier and book 3-4 months out with swim lessons. Have the cancellation policy or number pasted somewhere for an easy out.
  • Instructors are at the top of their teaching game in the Fall. We’re refreshed, waiting and ready to wear out your little ones.
Posted in Parenting & Swimming, Swim Lessons & Programs | Leave a comment

Do’s & Dont’s of Taking Swim Lessons in August

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Tina Ramser

This post comes as after the fact, as August is almost behind us, but that’s kind of the point.

If your child took swim lessons this past month, how did they fare? I’m going to look into my magic crystal ball and predict the lessons came up a little short.

Let’s take the example of a family I know that recently signed up their first-timer — a really sweet little girl of almost four — for group lessons that took place this past month.

I shared the pool space with my own student and out of the corner of my eye, caught that things weren’t going well. The father actually ended up pulling the daughter out of class and scolded the young group instructor for forcing her to go under.

There were three Red Flags in this situation: Beginner, group lessons, and August. Bad combination.

For a beginner, group lessons are never the best choice. Especially if you feel your child is at all sensitive or shy, and is truly a beginner, meaning they don’t know how to enjoy putting their face in yet. For swim instructors, the month of August is the hardest. After a busy summer, instructors are extremely weathered, exhausted, and very short on patience.

Put it all together and you get a bad experience.

I’ve written about this issue before, way back in December, about the Best and Worst Months to Teach Your Child to Swim. I discussed the top 5 five reason why the coldest months of the year are the best months for your child to take lessons.

Posted in Children Learning to Swim, Parenting & Swimming, Swim Lessons & Programs | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Private One-on-One or Group Swimming Lessons?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Tina Ramser

When I think about using a group approach to get a fearful swimmer started, I recall a quote my friend’s grandmother used to say: “Only the rich can afford to buy cheap, because they can afford to buy something again and again and again …”

Enrolling in group lessons to teach your resisting child, which are cheaper than paying for a private instructor’s time, will feel a lot like that quote. Read further, and I’ll save you time, money, headache, and get you to end up with a safe swimmer.

Ratios Equal Reduced Attention, Period
Even in the best group swim instruction ratio settings, which typically is (and I wouldn’t settle less for) 4:1, your child isn’t going to get all the nurturing, turns, information and swim time they require to make significant progress. You’ll end up repeating the process again and again and again …

In any numbers setting, a teacher will always find themselves teaching the medium, or middle, which ultimately means learning and practicing skills all students can somewhat do. This slows progress for both the highest-level student and lowest-level student. So if the highest-level swimmer can put their face in and swim back-and-forth to the teacher, but all the lowest-level swimmer can do is swim assisted with their face up, common ground has been found and all students will stay within the confines of this activity.

Water is a safety issue — an instructor cannot turn their back on a student just so another could be pushed to swim further out. And you wouldn’t expect an instructor to force a fearful child to keep up with the pack.

Breeding Ground For Bad Habits
Another reason you might want to reconsider group lessons is because it can breed bad habits. Even if your instructor attempts an individual approach using a watchful eye, kids still have to wait their turn. They get bored. They start doing things they shouldn’t be doing, from spitting water to swimming away.

Instructors in a group setting are generally forced to go against instincts and become an entertainer, doing a lot of what I call “plate-spinning” (you know, a busy act clowns do in the circus), as well as spend thirty seconds of every minute gently disciplining/educating.

When A Semi-Private (2:1 Ratio) Works, When it Doesn’t
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I don’t teach beginner’s group classes if I can’t help it. I don’t even really like the semi-private lesson approach, where two students share one instructor; be it siblings or friends.

More often than not, the two students are mismatched swim partners. They might be great friends and get into the pool because they have one another, but it can jeopardize long-term results in the form of acquiring swim ability or establishing water safety. You end up with what I’ve described above, and I’m back to my old plate-spinning routine to keep them engaged.

The exception to the semi-private rule is for students who are able to swim by themselves in the water. I see lots of 6 year-olds and higher benefiting from the extra push a swim partner gives them. And of course an exception is if the parent begins to see that splitting any two apart will net in more results.

Not all instructors feel the same. I’m simply not a fan of group or mismatched semi-private lessons because each child deserves to get exactly what he/she needs in a swim lesson to make progress toward being be a safe swimmer.

But all instructors can agree that if you are very serious about getting the job thoroughly done, you go with one-on-one instruction. Water safety needs to come first before play or relying on any group dynamics that at some point stop delivering results. And you’ll save more money in the end.

Posted in Swim Lessons & Programs, Water Fears & Trauma | 1 Comment

To Dunk or Not to Dunk: When To Force Submersion

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Tina Ramser

Is there ever a good reason to force a child to go underwater if they venomously refuse to put their face in? There are, but exist few and far between and you’d better know exactly what you are doing, parent or instructor. This is the stuff water trauma is built on. I kid you not.

I probably manually submerse 1-2 kids a year, if that. We’re talking about the unwilling who understand what I am telling them is about to happen, not infants or toddlers. I present my two case studies, the two real and only students I had last year that I forced submersion on. Both are success stories and are swimmers.

Ramona: Confident, Controlling & Vocal
Ramona* was, and I’m sure still is, quite a character. Ramona, 4 years-old, came to me nervous about the water, and talked a mean streak to try to get us to stop thinking about swimming in it. She had a Death Grip on me at all times. When she wasn’t making headway with me, she’d try to engage her parents in conversations about getting her the heck out of the pool.

Anything Ramona and I tried that was new or pushed the envelope on getting her face closer to the water, she yelled or screamed about it to get out of it. I quickly saw being vocal was Ramona’s defense mechanism. Although I acknowledged Ramona’s fear, I know most of it was an act. I knew Ramona was someone who was not going to end up putting her face in on her own and that I had to submerse her. Here was my plan for her:

  • Step 1: Know the worst-case scenario outcome. For Ramona, she was going to let out a blood-curdling scream, but beforehand. Maybe tears would follow afterward, but no scream that would top what came before. And the tears were going to be a pride-thing.
  • Step 2: Get the parent’s backing. I explained to mom and dad what was going on, and we agreed together how we would handle it.
  • Step 3: Explain to the student what is happen. Ramona was explained what she need to do (hold her breath). And I knew she knew how to do it well, and she knew what would happen if she didn’t do it.

Results? Ramona did holler out an Indian War cry after my cue of one-two-three! that was probably heard several blocks down. I did not submerse her just then, but both her parents and I explained she was never to scream like that again. And then I gave her the count down once more, and with no ammo left, and we went under. No tears. We did it again and again, and Ramona figured it out. She was swimming back and forth to me with her head down in the next couple of lessons.

Sophie: Shy, Sweet & With Sad Eyes
I knew Sophie, 4.5 years-old, was going to be a hard one in the sense she did not want her face near the water and was completely too sweet and gentle to me about her resistance. But I also knew I had to be strong for her and take her underwater, because like Ramona, she wasn’t going to find the courage to do it on her own.

I spent the first two lessons letting Sophie to get to know and trust me, all the while explaining about how in order to swim, we must go underwater. On the third lesson, I told her we were going underwater together. I got tremendous head-shaking from her as her lower lip quivered. I took her fast and swift. She cried heartfelt tears after. With her mom’s backing, we both kept a happy face for her, and told her she was doing a great job.

Results? It be honest, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right choice. Such is the nature of risk. I evaluated that Sophie’s worst-case scenario was crying before the next lesson even started, and that could be a very tough one to get over. So I was very curious about her reaction to coming to the next lesson. But Sophie was smiling and waiting for me at the next lesson, which is a good sign, and has more to do with Sophie than me. Maybe I did read her right. I backed off from submersion for two more lessons, and pushed her to do bubbles. The main issue for Sophie was she was not used to having water near her face at all. She was timid, water scared her, and as a result, she would forget to hold her breath and drink water in.

After two more lessons passed, we did another submersion. No tears. Another lesson; two submersions. No tears. Finally, on her fifth submersion, Sophie got it and spent the entire lesson going underwater and swimming back and forth to me.

Although the two were different in personality, I basically followed the same formula to force submersion. Know the worst case scenario. Get the parent’s backing. Explain to the student what is happening.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Posted in Children Learning to Swim, Parenting & Swimming, Swim Lessons & Programs, Water Fears & Trauma | 1 Comment