Discover your life aquatic

Dianna has always waxed poetic about swimming in open water, rivers, lakes and oceans, and came to Sea Hiker for instruction last year. Here is her report on her return to the same triathlon she did last year, enjoy: 

The Lee’s Trail Triathlon is an early season sprint distance event, the end of May, and this year my goal was to improve my swim time.

Two years ago I’d been the second slowest person in my heat, passing only one woman who lazily backstroked down the lane. Although I’ve done a lot of swimming, including almost 3K from Alcatraz, I'm usually the last one onto the beach or out of the pool. 

In the summer of 2010 I decided it was time to go faster and was lucky enough to find Peter Scott at Sea Hiker. I followed him into the open waters of Jericho Beach, and during the winter and spring signed up for swim pods at the Aquatic Centre and YMCA. He used video, a powerful teaching tool, which showed that my arm snaked back to the surface as I rolled to streamline and my head popped up like a turtle when I breathed. I must have asked Peter dozens of time, "Do I really look like that?" By the time triathlon season rolled around I felt faster, more efficient, and more relaxed in the water. It was time to test myself.

The Lee’s Trail swim is at Second Beach…pool. That's right. A pool swim. I was assigned a position based on my previous finishing time which put me, guess where?, eighth of eight swimmers.

Whistle!! The first swimmer pushed off the wall and ten seconds later number two. FInally, I shoved off and to my amazement saw silver bubbles almost immediately. After less than a dozen strokes I passed a swimmer! Wow. That was a new experience. 

I heard Peter's voice in my head. "Chin tucked!" "Patient catch!" "Turn early to breathe!" Too much input, too confusing. One focus point at a time, I reminded myself and felt my stroke become more efficient and breathing easier. Caught swimmer two. Then another one. By the first turn I'd passed three people!  

During the following laps I threaded my way past slower swimmers while avoiding oncoming traffic. When I climbed out of the pool I had passed all but one competitor and darned near caught him. And, yes, my time was faster. Much faster. 

Lessons learned. 

• Frequent, short, and concentrated workouts equals improvement. Fifteen or twenty minutes of practice several times a week is more productive than one 90 minute session once a week. 

• One focus point at a time. Think about breath timing OR kicking. Stroke speed OR hand position. Trying to fix too many things at once means everything falls apart.

• Visualize perfection. For me this means my head droops like a wilted flower blossom on a stem. My arm enters the water like an arrow shot from a bow. And my legs are Indiana Jones’ whip snapping through the water.