I went for swimming this evening.

Today the kind and gentle instructor was not present. Instead, a not so kind and gentle instructor was on duty. I went to the pool and asked her for the floaty thing. She looked at me and said, “do you know how to swim?”. I explained and she gave it to me. It’s understandable. They are there for my safety so they have to make sure I am not a hazard to others.

I took floaty to the pool but left it by the side in the beginning. The last time I went to the pool I swam for a few minutes without floaty, so I was feeling comfortable today. I went in and took three laps without floaty. I couldn’t swim like a frog, though, which is probably the most energy efficient way to swim. I was not relaxed enough to do that. I never learned to do it as a kid. I am learning it now, so I have to be very relaxed to do that. I practiced it in the last three sessions by observing how other people were swimming.

So… I took three laps doing front crawl. It’s something I know to some extent (enough to not drown 😛) since old times. Last week the kind instructor saw me doing that and offered some advice to improve the technique. After three laps I was a little exhausted and out of breath. Then I took the floaty and took one lap slowly.

I wasn’t relaxed today. I was a little distracted and stressed, so I was having a little difficulty controlling my breath – the most important thing while being in the water 😜.

The whole session was like this. Sometimes I took laps doing front crawl. Sometimes I switched between front crawl and frog swimming. Sometimes I took the floaty and tried to calm down.

The good thing is that I am becoming more and more comfortable in water with these sessions. I am learning the technique. Today I realised that I can do front crawl very slowly as well. For some time I was swimming very slowly and I was relaxed. I didn’t have to flap my legs as fast I thought I would have to. I was flapping my legs slowly and using my arms in a very relaxed way, and it worked! Hmm… I have never been this comfortable in the water. I can compare because until now all I did was front crawl whenever I went into the lake and was always exhausted after some time. I would use my legs and arms too much because I was scared. Today I was not scared partly because the swimming pool has these floating lane boundaries. I knew that if I get exhausted then I can take support. 😜

I am still not as comfortable as I am usually in the shallow water. In the shallow water I can swim underwater, change directions easily, swim backwards, lie on the water on my back. I can do all that because I am relaxed. I haven’t reached at that level in the deep water yet. It will take some time for me to get over my fear, but I will get there. 😁

I am already making a lot of progress. I can swim like a frog to some distance. When I feel like I am panicking, I switch to front crawl mid way. It’s getting better.

I feel safe in the pool. I didn’t feel as safe in the lake. And I didn’t feel safe at all in the river. I went to the river last year. It was a big mistake. The river becomes very deep very soon. I was stupid. But I didn’t know that until that time. I never went to the river again. I found the lake and always went there. Now I found the swimming pool. It’s the best for me at this stage. It’s five minutes away from my home. I can go there twice a week. It’s deeper than the portion of the lake I usually swim in. It has floaty lane boundaries to give me mental support (and physical support in case I need it). Mosy importantly, it has my beloved floaty! 😆 That thing is much needed until I get comfortable in the pool.

I am enjoying the pool.

Yay! I just realised that I can go to the pool more than two times a week! Until now I thought that my subcription at the university sports centre allows me to use the pool only twice a week, but seems like that’s not the case. While writing this post I just tried to see if I can book an appointment for tomorrow and it didn’t complain. I guess I can go again tomorrow. This is nice! 👌 Great!

Okay, let’s cook…

Ciao!