Learning to swim as an adult

In My Humble Opinion
21

I didn’t see much overlap between what I was talking about (rhythm and coordination) and what they are talking about (body-shaping and mindfulness).

Whatever technique you train in, push your instructor to identify your faults, and practice the corrections until you don’t have to think about them. As with many endeavors, good basics make everything down the line easier.

By the way – the 88 degrees water temperature mentioned by pudytat72 is a bit warm for lap-swimming. Facilities with more than one pool often have them at different temperatures.

Being a cheapskate, I swim at the “Y” on my Silver Sneakers insurance benefit, use Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo & Conditioner, and wear modestly cut Speedo tank suits bought at outlets.

I am also a life-long recreational open water swimmer. Ocean swimming in particular takes special considerations, but it’s what I grew up with and I have always loved it.

22

On a more positive note, my great-uncle learned to swim at age 67 so he could take up scuba diving, which he did for several years.

23

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I’d LOVE to find a cap that keeps my (long, thick and curly) hair dry, but I’ve tried two. One wants to pop off half way through a lap and the other just fills with water. Neither keep my hair dry. If there’s anyone who has any suggestions, I’m all ears.

The other thing I forgot (but remembered as I was showering after swimming this evening) is to get ear drops for swimmer’s ear. I don’t usually have swimmer’s ear, but I did notice that I was having problems with my ears when I first started swimming. I got drops like this, and use them after each swim and don’t have any problems. I did try ear plugs, but didn’t find them successful. Maybe I just have funky ears, but the drops work fine.

24

Good to know, as I am 67. :slight_smile: Bravo!

No scuba diving for me, though.

25

ThelmaLou, your comment that you begin to panic when you can’t feel the bottom of the pool stuck out to me. I might be misinterpreting what you said and if so please ignore this whole post but I can’t help thinking that this is going to need addressing before anything else really. You need to be comfortable in deep water to be safe and happy in the pool.

My take on it as an ex-swimming teacher (many years ago) is that once you realise you CAN float on your back even when the water is deep there’ll be no stopping you. That’s because once you can do that, any time you get tired or worried you can just turn over and float, know are safe, and have a bit of a rest. That’s a great feeling.

Would some individual lessons to start with be possible for you? A good teacher should be able to quickly identify what to work on to get you off to a quicker start. Nothing beats individual attention.

Good luck with it all! I love swimming even though I don’t get to the pool as often as I’d like these days and this thread has inspired me to make the effort to go more regularly.

26

I think individual lessons would be good. That’s why I posted the Total Immersion link.

My goal is precisely TO become comfortable in deep water. I can float on my back, but still am uncomfortable when my feet can’t reach the bottom.

I think being able to swim well and comfortably must be a wonderful skill to have. When I took that class in college, I never got to that part.

27

Would love to know how you get on if you do go the Total Immersion route. I envy those people I see swimming up and down effortlessly for what seems like hours on end while I feel like I’m near collapse after a few laps!

28

I will update!

29

TL;DR all

The chlorine level in public pools should be at the high end of “acceptable” - because people pee in the pool, sweat, and are filthy pigs, generally.

Private pools can control much better.

And yes, the “too much Chlorine” smell is chloramines (sp), created as a precursor to destroying the crud. The cure is, in fact, to add more FC (free chlorine).

For more info about pools and their care, see:

Trouble Free Pool

especially the “Pool School” and “Pool Chemistry”.
The site is for pool owners, so you won’t find help in swimming.
It does, however demystify pool chemistry.

I have a pool (didn’t ask for one, it was here when I moved in) and still can’t swim - I have a phobic reaction to water. I found that a snorkel did wonders for the phobia - once I knew I could still breathe even if my nose was submerged, I could paddle about.
Sometime, I’ll (maybe) get around to killing the green and yellow stuff. For now, just keeping skeeters away is enough.

Anyway - find out if the pool will allow snorkel and/or kickboard - some don’t. Maybe they would be allowed in organized classes.

Good luck.

30

Go for it! I took up swimming for the first time in my life 3 months ago… I was always afraid of water, and decided it was time to learn at last…

I’ve been taking one lesson a week, and going to the pool daily on my own…

Yesterday I swam 1,000 meters for the first time… (Backstroke - love it!)

Oh, and signed up for scuba diving lessons in July! If only I’d learned 50 years ago like everyone else I knew…

31

Fantastic, Daffyd! Tell me a little about your lessons. Individual or group, what kind of pool setup-- ymca, gym, community pool-- what did you like best/least about the lessons?

32

I am a swimming teacher and I teach adults as well as children and infants, I love teaching adults.

Congratulations on deciding to learn, swimming is a massive part of my life, I had a pool in my back yard as a child and have just bought a house with a pool. I spend every holiday at the beach, for me, swimming is pure joy and I hope that it becomes the same for you.

My first suggestion is that you head to the pool by yourself, head to the shallow end and get yourself floating. Initially, have yourself in the “starfish” position (legs and arms spread), ensure you have your stomach and bottom pushed up and have your head back (i.e. chin away from your chest). Relax, take nice deep breaths and notice how your body gently raises and lowers again in the water as your lungs fill and empty.

Teach yourself how to stand up from the floating position, bring your legs back together, bend your knees, push stomach & bottom down (i.e. bending at the waist) and bring your chin forward. Use your arms in a skulling action to help get yourself vertical again.

Next thing to teach yourself is breathing, I recommend you use a kick board (most pools have these available to borrow - at least where i am in Australia). Stretch your body out and start kicking. It is important to kick from the hips, as opposed to just bending you knees. The most effective kick has only a very slight knee bend, pointed toes, movement in the hips and ankles too. Think “floppy feet”

Put your face in the water, looking towards the floor of the pool, not infront of you and kick away. You need to make sure you are blowing bubbles in the water, and only lifting your head to inhale. Don’t hold your breath! Holding your breath with cause you to tire too quickly (you wouldn’t hold your breath going for a jog) and won’t help you relax either.

Have a go at my suggestions on your own before you pay for lessons.

You can probably tell this is my passion, if you want any more specific advise, send me a message and i will send you some lesson plans and or advice.

Regarding hair - I’m in the water 5 days a week, my hair colour doesn’t last, but i don’t care. If you have a shower and wet your hair first, it helps to keep it from fading - your hair is already soaked with tap water, so the chlorinated water doesn’t soak all the way in.

Good luck and have fun

33

It was really big with triathletes a few years ago. The idea was that the technique was supposed to make it easier to swim so that you wouldn’t be exhausted when it was time to bike & run. I used the books, but didn’t go to the classes. I think they helped, but I wasn’t starting from scratch.

I like swimming when I do it, it’s very meditative. I do see people of all ages at the pool, so you’re too old to learn.

34

I go to a community pool that offers lessons. I originally started with group lessons, but found that in my “beginner” class I was the only person who didn’t know how to swim, so it was totally useless… At that point I changed to individual lessons.

When I started it was really hard to swim 6 feet. Luckily, I have an instructor who likes working with adults, and has been really encouraging and supportive. I took a few classes at the beginning with a different instructor who was a nice guy, but we just didn’t click, so I changed… The guy I have now keeps me trying things that make me a bit uncomfortable, but can manage.

I think with adults a lot of the issues are psychological - I swore up and down I could never go in the deep end, and last week, I spent the whole time in 17 feet of water and survived. (obviously!)…

I learned freestyle first, and can do it, but there are a million things to keep track of - arms, legs, turning your head to breath, etc, that it hasn’t quite clicked yet. But when I learned the backstroke, it just seemed so easy - your face is out of the water, so breathing is easy, and within a week, I was able to do a couple of laps - 50 meters…

Each day I added a bit on, and learned not to stop in between laps. So instead of doing a lap and stopping, I did two… Then I did 4, and two days ago I did 40 x25 meters… and found in a strange way it’s kind of relaxing…

I now have six special towels to bring to swimming and four bathing suits… I’m loving it. If I can do it, you can do it!

35

That should have been “not too old to learn”:smack:

(hopefully, I’m not too old to learn to edit better)

36

So you are uncomfortable floating on your back? Which you can’t do if your feet are touching the bottom.

I’d say don’t worry yet about swimming, first get comfortable about floating. If you can float and keep your mouth and nose above water, you can survive for a very long time, and that is a VERY comforting feeling.

37

During my stroke improvement classes, there is another group of adults in the pool learning to swim. I get excited for them as I see them progress, and can only imagine how much fun they are having. Much more fun that doing catch-up drills, I’m sure.

You will learn basic skills in a class, but what you’ll be missing that most swimmers have, is hundreds or thousands of hours of “play” swimming while growing up. Swimming just to be in the water. Breath-holding competitions. Games of marco-polo. Diving to the bottom to pick up objects. Diving. Cannonballs. Tarzan ropes. Basically, anything that entails swimming without thinking about swimming.

I applaud your desire to achieve mermaid-mode, and I think in addition to your classes, you’ll need playtime in the pool. Are there children in your family that you could play-swim with? Maybe find a friend or two from your class, and go to public swim together and throw a ball around. Or better yet, a water park, or wave-pool (they start shallow and get progressively deeper).

As long as you’re having fun…

Good luck!

38

Thanks for all this great advice, y’all!

39

I’ve never thought about it like this, but when I’m doing swim workouts on my own, I usually end them by playing - a length or two kicking across (not kicking drills - just for fun); a length or two of trying to see if I can make it across the pool without coming up for air; backflips (if no one is looking). It probably does help me stay comfortable in water.