I’m Going to Learn to Swim

I can swim, but it’s not pretty. I flail just a little too much. I get out of breath. And if I were ever caught in the middle of the ocean, or even in a small pond 100 yards from shore, I’d be voted most likely to drown.

I don’t know why I never learned to swim properly. For a while I thought I could do it. Alas, I cannot. Which leads me to an article by Tim Ferriss called Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim in 10 Days and You Can Too. Tim, a world class athlete, writes:

Swimming has always scared the hell out of me.

Despite national titles in other sports, I’ve always fought to keep afloat. This inability to swim well has always been one of my greatest insecurities and embarrassments.

I’ve tried to learn to swim almost a dozen times, and each time, my heart jumps to 180+ beats-per-minute after one or two pool lengths. It’s indescribably exhausting and unpleasant.

No more.

In the span of less than 10 days, I’ve gone from a 2-length (2 x 20 yards/18.39 meters) maximum to swimming more than 40 lengths per workout in sets of 2 and 4. Here’s how I did it after everything else failed, and how you can do the same…

I ordered the Total Immersion book and DVD. This isn’t one of those things where I started getting up at 4 am, drinking raw eggs and then went jogging in my gray sweatsuit and Chuck Taylors like I did after I saw Rocky in 1976. Nope, I know I’m no Michael Phelps. I’d just be happy to not be that guy flailing in the pool, but being too fat for anyone to want to come over and help him in case he was really drowning lest they get pulled down, too.

Posted on August 18, 2008
Filed Under Fitness | Comments

Comments

  • You know, I never knew what it meant to learn to swim until I dated a girl who had been a competitive swimmer. Up until then, I mistakenly believed any form of staying afloat in water (however brief or long the duration) was considered swimming. She sure showed me.
  • I just got the video and watched it through today. I'm going to start at Step 1 tomorrow, which is floating. I need to relearn.

    My 17-year-old is dating a swimmer and he said practically the same thing...amazing what passes for swimming and what's really swimming.
  • Rick, did you read that about the Speedos in Tim's article? I had to laugh. I'm not going to traumatize anyone...I think I'll stick with the board shorts for a while.

    Yeah, it's all part of an entire plan. So far, not bad. But I figure it's a long slog...I'm going to give it a try.
  • Dude, great idea, again. How is the follow through going with the push ups, walking in the hills, etc.

    I am just pulling for you to meet Sheryl's criterion for you to run with the bulls.

    Do this one well and I will buy you one of these new Speedos that are part of the reason for all the new wolrd records. Unless of course you already have a set of Speedos.
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