Well, after a few weekends and midweek sessions in the pool, I have finally managed to get my head under water and remove my life jacket. I can now manage a few strokes in the pool. It has not been easy for me, even though I love the water and being near the water. I can now duck down in the pool and retrieve a rock and today, I managed to snorkel. Am I happy? Shit yeah! I have never been able to do any of this in all my life.
I managed to achieve one of my goals. Out of the three goals I set myself for this year. I am almost at the point of completing 1 of the main ones. For most people, swimming is an everyday thing, or a weekly thing. Something they do on Holidays, or simply going down to the beach. For me, it has been a hurdle. Getting my face in the water, getting my feet up and kicking away like a floundering fish, smacking my arms into the water to get some purchase on moving myself from one end of the pool to the other. I ditched the jacket this weekend, relying purely on the flotation aid, some piece of foam shaped into a board, small as it is, helped me get from end to end. Today, I ditched the board and just went for it.
I managed to find my snorkelling gear in the garage, yes we are still in a state of flux as it were. We have yet to unpack all the boxes. Anyway, finding the snorkelling gear, helped me immensely. I donneed the goggles and inserted the mouthpiece into my mouth and got my face into the water. I also managed to get my head under water and snorkelled the length of the pool. It worked even better with my Fins on my feet. How easy it is to move, with hardly any effort. I had to go slow with my feet, else I would have slammed my head into the side of the pool. It was so relaxing, slowly moving my legs and allowing the fins to do most of the work, while I could look at the bottom of the pool.
Once I had done that, the transition of using just my body and goggles, was fairly easy. I just had to do it. Yes it was ugly and no style to my movement in the water. But I did it. All that remains for me to do now is get more time in the pool and swim, just swim. Get my legs and arms working together, drop my shoulders and raise my arse and SWIM!
