If you can’t swim, that is nothing to be ashamed of! Many of us started there.
For many it is an absolute fear or its the lack of simply knowing where to start, that keeps us from even trying! We are often embarrassed to admit…”I don’t know where to start”. If you are overwhelmed, ashamed, fearful, frustrated etc. Please keep reading to find a set of actions you can take to relax those fears! Even Superman had to earn his cape!
1. Breath out the entire time your head is in the water. To start, get into the water up to chest level. Start to place your face down into the water (with your goggles on). Just an inch before your face touches the water, breath out. As your face breaks the plane of the water surface you should continue to breathe out smoothly, into the water & keep looking at the bottom of the pool. Continue exhaling into the water until you feel you are about 80% empty of oxygen. Slowly begin standing upright & continue to blow out until your face breaks the plane of the water. At this point (when your face breaks the surface of the water) begin to inhale until you are standing straight up. I would suggest doing this with your eyes open if you can. Repeat this 3-5x until you learn to become comfortable with having your face below the surface of the water.
I came from absolutely no background and swimming and I could not swim 25 yards. I know this helped me tremendously with the anxiety and learning how to breathe while swimming. Your face has to feel comfortable under water while exhaling and if you aren’t there yet, anything you do next is putting the cart before the horse.
2. Float through the water. Superman! Now that you’re comfortable with (blowing bubbles) breathing into the water…let’s Fly! From the shallow edge of the pool, place your back to the wall. When comfortable, push off the wall using your two feet and immediately place our hands out ahead of you as if you were Superman flying through the air. See how far you can glide (don’t try to swim). Simply push off the wall and glide…but the moment your face hits the water….keep looking down and lousy like before, blow bubbles/breath into the water until you are out of air. Then stand up, return to the wall and repeat this Superman Drill as many times as you need to until you feel comfortable that your entire body is submerged.
Now Superman can fly! YOU GOT THIS!
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Disclaimer: It is strongly advised that each athlete consult his or her family doctor to assure that they are in good physical health, capable of performing the activities involved in strenuous training. As a new swimmer, it is strongly advised that you swim with others present (preferably a lifeguard) while also announcing your inexperience. You should NOT swim in open water by yourself. Statements above are tips/trick of things that are useful for us. If you are concerned, please check out packages and submit your contact information for a free consultation.