Are you visiting my site because you did a search for “how to swim laps”? (This Squidkid.org post often comes up as one of the number one web addresses to find good information on this subject). If you are here to learn about freestyle or any other proper pool stroke, I want to talk to you today about not feeling nervous when it comes to swimming laps correctly and well. And I want to share with you three important people that felt like they weren’t doing it right when they started either.
Tim Ferriss, author of “The Four-Hour Work Week.” Tim Ferriss took Generation X and all the above by surprise with a controversial #1 New York Times book about lifestyle designing that serves as sort of a manifesto for the working traveler or anyone else wanting to regain their freedom, among other things. Recently, Ferriss learned to swim laps and he wrote about it here. Of course when Ferriss does it, he learns how to do it with the utmost efficiency or in 10 days.
J.D. Roth, blogger and founder of Get Rich Slowly (and Get Fit Slowly). I’ve had a few guest posts at J.D.’s site and find his approach to offering personal finance advice sound, unique and often very touching. He contacted me when he wanted to get back into swimming laps after a decade-long absence and I gave him and his readers some advice found here. J.D. is frequently mentioned in many of the big financial magazines and also just came out with this first book called “Your Money: The Missing Manual.”
Heather Boener, writer and career coach. Heather is a friend and member of a San Francisco-based writer’s group I belong to. aside of penning articles for Yoga Journal and the SF Chronicle, Heather also runs a blog geared to deliver serenity to the self- employed found here. I was able to asked deeper questions about lap swimming, how she got into it and what it means to her. I think you will really relate to her. She had a lot of fears when first starting, such as body image, knee pain and if she could do this without her glasses. “I just had to be willing to risk looking foolish at first, or feeling foolish,” she told me. Here are some highlights from her email on swimming:
- Being in the water turned out to be a cure for self-consciousness — I felt strong inside my own skin.
- Once I realized everyone went through struggle of learning how to breathe correctly I stopped panicking about it.
- Water is calming, meditative and like an escape, unlike plugging into your iPod on the elliptical trainer.
- Swimming is much like yoga, with a subtle focus in shifts and stance making it much easier and relaxing.
Remember a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Learning to swim laps requires patience, persistence and practice.
