As I got older I loved boating, and the swimming that went hand in hand with these adventures. Even without any real training or coaching I was confident in the water and loved being there. As a family we camped over the years at many locations including Pancake Bay on the Eastern shoreline of Lake Superior. There, there were days where the largest of the great lakes, had waves like the ocean waves, large with a strong undertow. You learned to swim in a lake like that one.
The firsts swim competition I did was a 200m swim for the try a tri early bird triathlon in Ottawa. I had a lot of fun. I didn't win anything except a new found love for triathlons and the swim portion needed to do it.
I had to sign up for another.
I had already ran a 10K, and knew I could do that, as well, I had been biking for years and couldn't see how a 45K ride would be difficult (eye opener came soon enough), so I decided my next Triathlon would be the Olympic. I would need to practice to swim 1500 meters, bike 45K and then run 10K. Seemed to be no problem in my mind.
I showed up at the Plant pool one lunch hour, new goggles, swim cap and speedy bathing suit and slipped into the water. I took a quick glance up at the clock and noted the time. I had already determined that to swim 1500 meters I needed to go back and forth 60 times the 25m length of the pool. I didn't train up to this, didn't practice before, just decided I would swim the 1500 meters to be sure I could do it. Kinda nuts in the grand scheme of things. This wasn't unusual behaviour for me.
I started the laps, counting up to 20, then starting over again, counting to 20 and then one last time. The last 20 were much easier than the first. I've found with swimming you are very stiff and it is difficult to move seemlessly through the water at first. Takes quite a bit of laps to get the acid out of your muscles, to loosen up and enjoy the swim. If you are a first time swimmer you may give up when you start to feel fatigue but I say, press on, as after a few more laps your body adapts to the foreign motion and you start to swim easier.
When I was done I stood up, took off the goggles and looked up at the clock. Thirty five minutes had passed. The gentleman in the lane beside me asked me how I did. I told him my time and asked him did that sound pretty ok for a 1500 meter swim ? Yes! He exclaimed, making me feel very proud. It was an excellent time. I was a strong swimmer. Hmph. You can imagine what happened in that moment in my mind. I had never competed, I had never practiced and yet I was being told I was good. THAT MEANS.... if I practice, and I compete, I'll be GREAT.... I was hooked. Doesn't take much to get me excited towards a sport. This is how my swimming began. My first love in the triathlon sport.
I finished that Olympic Triathlon in 3rd place in my age group. The swim went very well, and gave me the confidence I needed to sign up the half ironman 2K swim this year. I wanted better training and so I joined the Kanata Surfers Master's Club who has an incredible coach who changed my swimming for the better. My form needed some real correction. Watching YouTube videos simply didn't cut it for me. I needed her to watch and correct me every week.
In the 2K I swam this past September 7th, I completed it in 36 minutes. 500 meters more than my 1500m in the pool and I did it in the same time. This is my training and coaching that has made the difference. Even my breathing under water and control of holding my breath, and breathing from each side has come up to excellent condition.
Over this next year, my goal is to train for 3.8Km swim in the FULL Ironman. To do so means I need to be in the pool, getting in the laps 3 times per week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. In order to win, I need to improve my times by 5 seconds per 100meters. With practice I can do this. I know I can. Committment, Discipline, and Focus. Thats all.
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