Are You Living It?

Have you ever had so much fun that you didn’t want to stop for anything…and I do mean anything?

In my never-ending quest to improve my swimming technique, I decided to take a lesson in Denver, Colorado a couple of weekends ago.  I had been reading blogs on the TI Swimming chat room when I came across some great tips on swim efficiency and technique.  I continued to read the updated entries for the next couple of months and soon realized that this one guy from Denver not only had some great advice, but also was able to explain things in a manner in which I could actually visualize the drills he was talking about.
 
His name is Brian Vande Krol, of FDS coaching (www.fdscoaching.com), and swimming is definitely his passion.  Instruction began immediately with stroke analysis and TI drills.  A really nice feature that Brian incorporates into his teaching is above and below water video recording with a flat screen television positioned on the edge of the pool for instant viewing and analysis.
 
For swim challenged individuals like myself, I can’t tell you how valuable it is to be able to watch yourself swim on video.  The little imperfections in your stroke that you’re not even aware of are right there on the screen for you and the rest of the class to view.  Brian did a great job of politely pointing out additional problems that I hadn’t detected.
 
After three hours of instruction and encouragement, the class was wrapping up so I swam a few extra laps amazed by what I had learned and how my technique improved.  I found myself actually having fun swimming; almost as much fun as the group of little kids playing on the big inflatable raft on the other side of the pool.  I thanked Brian for a great lesson and emerged from the pool feeling good about my decision to come to Denver.
 
As I was drying off and gathering up my gear, a swimmer two lanes over sprang from the water and made a beeline for the lifeguard.  I watched as they quickly walked back to her lane and strained to see what she was pointing at in the water.  Just as it registered, the lifeguard began blowing his whistle and instructed everyone to get out of the pool.
 
I stood there and flashed back to a scene in the movie Caddy Shack.  I imagined Bill Murray’s character, Carl, standing in the bottom of the drained pool announcing, “It’s okay, it’s just a snickers bar!”
 
I think all of us who had been swimming that day found ourselves wishing that the mystery object heading towards lane number three from the kids’ area was indeed just a snickers bar.
 
Apparently one kid was really having fun playing on the inflatable raft.  

By: Joe Hiss