A question for people who are good swimmers

[hermionieweasley]

I would love to be able to swim confidently. I didn't learn to swim properly until I was 18/19 years old as I just wasn't confident in water, before that I could doggy paddle and float about but not do lengths.

I would love to be able to swim daily for exercise, but after one length my body aches. my arms hurt and I'm breathless and my neck is stiff and sore. I'm not unfit, I run daily, play group sports, just can't seem to swim for 'gentle' exercise. I'm not overweight. Where am I going wrong and how can I get better?

Thank you all so much.

I will definitely look into adult swimming lessons, as I didn't know my face was supposed to get wet at all

Final question- do you get annoyed at slowww swimmers like me in the swimming lanes? That's something that has stopped me going to practise before as I imagine other swimmers getting frustrated at me

Go in the slow lane! Cant complain. It's the people flopping and splashing in the middle lane going nowhere fast that irritate me. Drives faster people into the fast lane but We are too slow so get overtaken a lot.

Pool rage

I can swim but my 11 year old is a great swimmer as I started her off when she was about 4 .
But the big thing was that she had swimming lessons and that was the turning point.
She went to the local pool and they have adult swimming lessons as well as kids and all different levels .
She also had a few one to one lessons with a private swimming coach to concentrate on technique and they also taught adults .
Hope this helps .

Thats what the slow lane is for. I learned quite a bit from watching other people under water with goggles. That sounds way wierder than it is. I just mean having a glance at others techniques. I'd still like a lesson or two and I'd love to be able to actually tumble turn.

You need to find a class and get taught the strokes properly - as at your pool. It will be easy enough once you learn

I’m a slow swimmer on the odd occasion I swim. I get annoyed at wankers who want to speed down the slow lane, can’t they read? It’s only 4 letters S L O W.
Its such a different sport, I was quite fit as a young adult but never swimming fit. I could do laps but any effort would give me a splitting headache. I’m lucky to have been Aussie I think or I would have been a terrible swimmer instead of an average one.

As long as you are in the appropriate lane, and are being generally considerate (not launching out in front of faster swimmers) no one will be annoyed with you. Try asking at reception when the quieter times are, then you won't need to worry too much about other swimmers.