From Tadpole to Dolphin: How To Not Suck at Swimming in 7 Days

At the age of 5 or 6 I had the swimming lessons you’d expect any kid to receive when they live within 10 minutes of the beach. Soon enough I received a certificate as proof that I could swim 30 meters, but even so I never felt comfortable swimming. My memory is foggy of these lessons specifically, but I remember thrashing around, gasping for air and my parents affectionately referring to me as a tadpole while my sister, who was considerably more capable at swimming (but also four years older) was referred to as a dolphin; able to effortlessly glide through the pool.

Swimming wasn’t exactly for me. But I still loved the water. I was hopeless at getting from A to B, but the second I got in the pool I’d swim straight to the bottom and just sit there for a good 20-30 seconds, completely free from anxiety, observing everyone else floating around. Perhaps I’d struggle to save myself from drowning but I wasn’t scared of the water (at least not at pools –  the ocean induced a bit of fear).

In my early teens it was decided that I should have further swimming lessons to rid myself of tadpole-status. I was against the idea, but there was still that hope that perhaps I wouldn’t need to feel ashamed of not being able to properly swim – a feeling amplified by the fact that pretty much all of my friends were quite accomplished swimmers and surfers.

It didn’t go according to plan.

The pool where I received lessons was both heated and heavily over-chlorinated – a combination that can be dangerous to the breathing of some people (like this guy), including myself. Asthma has been in the family, but I’d personally never had any problems, and while I didn’t have full-blown attacks, I did begin to have troubles with wheezing plus breathing in colder climates (like school camps, where temperatures would drop down to 0 degrees celsius), forcing me to use an inhaler at times.

And it wasn’t just the breathing either. These lessons did nothing to improve my technique. I went away at the end of each class assured that I had to kick harder, stroke faster, and that it was my fitness at fault. All I was being told to do was endless amounts of pointless drills, never being corrected for mistakes that were so blatantly obvious with my style.

Throughout each lesson I would constantly look at the clock and do as much as possible to extend my time out of the water (like going to the backs of lines when practicing diving), and then as soon the clock hit 11am I’d jump out of the pool, grab a towel, and get out of there as fast as possible, just in case I broke into tears. “What is wrong with me?” I’d think – everyone else seemed so capable in the water; I felt I was the only one who didn’t “get it.”

Needless to say, the day I finished these lessons (when it became obvious how they were affecting my breathing) was a great day, but all the same, between then and about 7-10 days ago, swimming had continued as a phobia of mine. I avoided all surf and swimming carnivals at school and the only time I had to go in the pool was when I was caught avoiding races, so they put me in a race with all the other students who hadn’t swam either for various reasons. That was quite humiliating, but it was over fairly quickly at least.

Last year Tim Ferriss wrote about his troubles with swimming and how his experiences completely changed with the discovery of Total Immersion (TI), a technique focused on biomechanics rather than using brute force to make your way through the water. The dream to learn how to truly swim was implanted in my mind, but it was only last week, when my neighbours went away on vacation (leaving their pool wide open for my use – with permission of course) that I was able to put the information into practice.

For the past week or so I’ve swum 2 times per day (with a couple of days off due to the weather and to forget bad habits I was developing) and I’m certainly no Phelps. Everyone I know could surely out swim me, and would find it considerably more effortless but…

• I mostly overcame the anxiety towards swimming that had built up over the years.
• Never before have I been able to do 4 consecutive laps without gasping hopelessly for air. There are still many inefficiencies in my technique, which I’ll talk about, but I’ve made much progress in this area.
• There is an effortlessly feeling when I don’t over think what I’m doing. When you try to grasp to that feeling it’s lost, and you sink, but I’ve felt that effortlessness, and that’s what really matters. It exists.

Swimming involves a number of components that need to work together to produce sustainable, momentum in the water. I’ve broken these components down into three categories that I felt were the big three elements of my progress. The categories are technique, anxiety, and breathing.

Technique

How you move affects your swimming 100x more than fitness, strength, or how badly you want to reach the other end of the pool.

This is the section where I don’t feel I have much value to add because Tim documented and explained the key TI principles quite brilliantly. The few points that had the most noticeable effect on my swimming though were:

• Roll from shoulder to shoulder instead of lying flat on top of the water.
• Angle your arms in a way that it feels like you’re swimming down. Watch the start of this video from Tim for extra info about the position and angle of your arms.
• Practice the movements rather than training for fitness.

Having only learnt about Total Immersion technique through the internet there are likely manly subtleties I’m missing in my stroke so, like I will do soon, it’s probably a good idea to watch the official Easy Freestyle DVD.

Anxiety

The moment I’d hit the water over the past few years I’d start feeling anxious. Floating around wasn’t too bad, but keeping my head under the water for an extended period was out of the question. My heart rate would jump, I’d feel like I was drowning, and then I’d wretch my head back up and gasp for air. (If you don’t feel anxious when you’re in the water, still read this section; there are some valuable tips.)

Slow down. You don’t need to move fast to swim. Whenever you find yourself gasping for air or feeling stressed, calm yourself down by standing still and breathing, and then slow down the next time you begin your stroke.

Stick with short and shallow. Anxiety is nature’s way of protecting you. If you didn’t feel stressed in certain situations then you would never be aware of threats, or at least perceived threats. Water is a threat. Deep water is a bigger threat. Swim in a pool that is either shallow all the way (so you can easily stand at any point) or allows you to swim horizontally across the shallow end. Psychologically this will reduce the overwhelming feelings that an unfamiliar environment can bring on.

Practice mindfully. When practicing an aspect of the TI technique or your breathing determine a set distance (< 15 meters worked well for me) and repeatedly try to swim that distance. At the end of each drill think carefully about everything you did – were your arms in the correct positions? Did you exhale enough? Do not just start swimming again. Be mindful of your actions and constantly re-evaluate your approach.

Do one thing at a time. Because of the underestimated complexity of swimming it’s easy for your movements to become a messy flail of kicking and arm waving. Try practicing just one part of the technique, or one aspect of breathing at a time. For example, get in the water, push-off from the wall, and focus only on rolling your shoulders with each stroke. Through this you’ll be able to see the effect each part has on your movement, and soon those movements will feel natural, allowing you to blend them with the other techniques.

Float. Spread out your arms and legs, place your face in the water, and lie there, floating on the surface. Don’t purposefully cut of your oxygen supply, but stay in that position for as long as possible. The purpose of this is to become accustomed to the feel of the water and realize that, if need be, you can maintain buoyancy.

Breathing

Exhale. Perhaps the most embarrassing mistake I made during this process was that I wasn’t exhaling. Every time I’d try to breathe in I’d gasp, a small bit of air would escape (with just as much air coming right back in), and then I’d sink, incapable of going any further. I was like a balloon, inflating until I burst.

And that’s when my sister reminded me of a technique we’d been taught in the first swimming lessons we ever had: exhale through your nose when your head is below water, and inhale through your mouth when your head is above water.

It’s easy to think that your lungs are weak and you’re not bringing in enough air, but if you’re endlessly gasping for oxygen it’s more likely that you’re not letting enough air out of your body. As soon as my face is beneath the surface of the water I start to exhale and make sure I have a constant, and even sometimes forceful stream of air coming out of my nose.

Find your rhythm. Breathing is a rhythm, and I imagine everyone has their own timing. It’s tricky to help someone find their rhythm, so with that in mind it’s important to be aware that you need to discover what timing works for you, and that both the seconds between each breath and the length of the breaths themselves should become constant.

Breathe to one side. Most swimmers have a dominant side, a side that they find easier to breathe to; for me, this is my right side. As you’re swimming breathe to both sides and find out which is your dominant one (it should be fairly obvious). For now, stick with breathing to that one side.

In the first few days of practice I’d try to breathe to my left side and I noticed a few things:

• I couldn’t keep my body parallel to the ground.
• My leading arm would sink.
• Large quantities of water would find its way into my ear.

And thus I started only breathing to my right, every other stroke (first stroke, third stroke, fifth stroke etc). This is a temporary, but effective solution. What you’ll find is you’ll be able to maintain balance as you swim and have less trouble inhaling. But, it’s definitely a less natural-feeling way of breathing, so every now and then give bilateral breathing (breathing to both sides) a go. After breathing to one side for a while I found it easier to handle the bilateral approach, although it’s still one of my noticeable weaknesses.

Point your chin towards your shoulder. This is a subtle aspect of breathing, but is helpful in avoiding a mouthful of water and loss of balance. As you roll to breath, look up, but also move your chin slightly towards your shoulder so you’re almost looking behind you, but not quite. Or, perhaps the easier way to visualize this is to focus on not looking forward or directly to your side.

Slow, controlled breaths. Gasping desperately doesn’t bring in more oxygen than a regular breathe but eradicates any balance you have and increases the anxiety you’ll feel. Breathe on the first stroke you make and be careful to breathe in a controlled manner.

Don’t let the air force its way into your mouth; inhale with a purpose and stretch as far as you can with your leading arm to extend the time you have to breathe. At first this may feel like you’re not getting enough air, but that’s just “last breath syndrome” kicking in – the feeling that you won’t ever have access to oxygen again. Remain calm, and strive for at least two more controlled breaths.

Putting it all together

Regularly re-evaluate. Most problems I faced in the last few days were re-emerging problems. Either I’d forget to exhale at times, focus on the power of my movements rather than the accuracy, or anxiety would creep back in as I approached the deep end of the pool. Carefully inspect mistakes you make and be mindful of what needs to be done to correct it. Endlessly evaluate your swimming.

Stop on a good note. Once again the Hemmingway Hack comes into play. Don’t swim until you’re exhausted. Stop once you’ve made satisfactory progress (like mastering an aspect of the technique). Progress isn’t always possible (even over 7 days I had a couple of “off” days), but on those days where you do get a bit ahead, being able to stop at the right time and come back, roaring with excitement will allow you to persist past the inevitable struggles you’ll face.

Take breaks to end bad habits. About half way through this process I developed a bad habit when I’d try to breath to my left side, in that I’d lose balance (more so that I had previously) and take in water as I tried to breath. I couldn’t seem to shake this habit, so I stopped swimming and took a break for a day. Then, when I got in the pool after that day off, while I hadn’t mastered bilateral breathing or anything to that level, the habit was broken and I made exponential progress.

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Being able to sustain motion in the water instead of prolonging drowning as I used to do is a magical feeling and and it’s horrifying that more swim coaches don’t teach the Total Immersion method. Months and months of lessons got me nowhere while a week of self-teaching myself resulted in huge improvements. To some swimming is a skill they always just seemed to possess, but this is definitely one of the most fulfilling accomplishments and if you don’t enjoy swimming, I’d recommend trying this approach to it. You’ll fall in love with it.

Photo: marfis75, spakattacks, Loozrboy, tz1_1zt

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