Sorry for the lateness of this post(it was supposed to be up by last Friday).

Well I was actually able to get in another day of swimming. I was out of town but was able to go a nearby rec center. Fortunately they had a really nice competition pool. I was given about two hours to swim around. From that experience I was able to learn that:

1. The air(even inside of a building) in Utah is SO much thinner than the air at home. Even though swimming the fly is very tiring, I was hurting after a length of the pool. To help make up for the tiredness, I also worked some on my freestyle but I was still dead even after swimming 2 lengths of the pool.

2. My timing on the stroke is coming along really well. I was able to take the stroke really slow and work on getting my head in the water before my arms come out and around(I think I talked about wanting to improve on that in an earlier post so I'll check that one off my to-do list). I also am getting more comfortable at my kick. My legs feel more together on the dolphin kicks and when I did kicks with a kick board I actually was making considerable progress(which is weird since I've never been good at that)

3. You can learn things much better if you also help others in learning. While I was warming up, a girl in the lane next to me asked how to do a flip turn. It was a learning experience for me(and a humbling experience) as I feel it is just so easy now that I've done them (literally) thousands of times but then felt like a babbling idiot trying to explain it in an easy-to-understand-and-follow sort of a way. I think I may have given a sliver of help. I'll say that to make me feel better...

I was also able(last week) to attend some of the open swim sessions for the school team that started then. Those have been helpful for any stroke I swim but mostly are getting me back in shape.

Goals for this week:

1. I need to re-structure a workout routine. I have late nights so I may need to make a shorter one.
2. I should be attending more swim practices when I can.
3. Get some video and/or pictures.


Until next time. Keep it real. Stay classy.

Brigham

Well, it is another post.

I was actually able to accomplish quite a bit this last week over spring break. My father took my little brother and I to the local community center so as to help me a little with my stoke. He was able to do quite a bit. This is what my first, fresh attempt looked like...(And just a note, they look much better full-screen)

 

this taken via my dad's iPad...

On of the main things you may(but I highly doubt) you will be able to tell is that my arms tend to drift so that they do not look symmetrical. One arm (usually my right) tends to come out of the water a little high than the other. This can make my stroke lop-sided. Also, my feet come apart on my kick which a lot a bit illegal. It changes the kick from a dolphin kick to a flutter(that kick is used in freestyle and backstroke). The dolphin kick has a lot more power than a flutter but is a lot more exhausting for me.

One of the things my dad did to try and correct my kick was actually to tie my ankles together and guess what? It totally worked. You can totally feel the difference though it is hard for me to replicate that feeling without my ankles being bound. This is a video(also via my dad's iPad) of that exercise.

And this is what happens when I Streeeeeeeeeetch my stoke out(via iPad again)...

I also started up on some workout routines as swim conditioning started yesterday, though I was unable to attend the first practice. I have been doing a lot of crunches at night to build up some core strength.

So I think I will sign off but first wish to end this week with a couple of goals.

1.) Continue my daily personal exercises with at least 50 crunches, 5 pull-ups, and sets of push-ups.(This may sound pathetic but that is what I feel that I can do at this point)

2.) Look up some ways to work on the technique of the stroke, maybe even outside the pool

3.) Build up my endurance by doing everything I can at these spring swim practices and maybe taking up some running on the side.





Until next time. Keep it real. Stay classy.

Brigham

Wow. Well now the project begins.

Well, I have to say that I must really love swimming and pain in order to do this blog. One month respite and I already am bored of the inactivity of the off season. I mean, I haven't been totally bored. I have joined a club ultimate Frisbee team and I still am in school(which means that life never gives up on hardships) but swimming is so much different than all of that.

I have been swimming for almost as long as I can remember and have always enjoyed it. I was on a swim team in 5th grade and then took some time off swimming just for fun until my sophomore year of high school. That's where it got serious.

My high school has a prestigious swim team. We have been the valley champions in the sport for the last dozen years and it isn't going to cool down anytime soon. We've just been getting better. Since I joined last year, I've witnessed our team breaking at least 5 team records and 1 area record. We are really pretty fast.

So this project is about improving myself in some way. Well based on the information I've given above, you have probably figured out what the basis of my goal is. Yes, it is to do with swimming. But really, swimming has its ups and downs for me. Of all the different strokes that are possible to be swam, I have always been a Freestyle swimmer. But the stroke I've always wanted to be good at was the Butterfly.

Butterfly is considered by many to be the hardest stroke. It involves incredible coordination and both mental and physical toughness. So why would I want to be able to do this if it is so hard? Have you ever seen those pictures of Olympic butterflyers on the back of cereal boxes? They always have this sweet picture of them with their head, shoulders, and arms out of the water in mid-stroke. That picture makes them look AWESOME(reference this link). If I could get a picture of myself under those same conditions, my muscles flexed and my game face set, it would make my entire swimming career worthwhile.

I have other reasons for this as well. My father was a swimmer in high school as well. During his senior year he was a team captain. He swam butterfly and was good enough to qualify for and place 4th in the state competition. I like my dad and think it would be sweet to get good at what he was able to do so well.

So, I have my standards set and goal outlined. So far I only know of a couple things i will be doing to help myself(the list will grow). First, I am going to start doing a lot more dry land workouts such as push-ups and pull-ups to really condition my muscles so as to better my speed in the stroke. I am also looking to find time in pools around(maybe he local community center?). Also, swim practice starts up the week after spring break. These practices will consist of working on kicking, strokes, and dry land workouts as well at a nearby college facility. I hope to get mentoring from my Dad before the swim practices start and when they start try and get a little extra time from the coach.

Until next time. Keep it real. Stay classy.

Brigham