1st Swimming Lesson

"You have a very good front crawl"
"Wait until you've seen me swim more than 2 lengths"
2 lengths later...
"There's a few things we can work on. I'm going to be a complete bitch so don't take offence"

And so I met David during my first swimming lesson where we worked on the following:

• Leg kick - ensuring the movement is from the hips and the feet are relaxed. 2-4 lengths with hands out in front (no float) and a small breast stroke every couple of seconds to take a breath. We worked on ensuring my feet weren't coming out of the water which led to inefficiency / lack of power under the water
• Stream-lining - swimming on your side with your lower arm outstretched and your upper arm resting on your thigh. 1-2 lengths on each side and then alternating every 5-10 seconds. This helps with your breathing and streamlining / positioning in the water. I swallowed a lot of water
• High Shoulders - float between the legs. The sensation was to feel as though you were lifting your shoulders out of the water. This helps keep your elbows high which encourages you to roll your shoulders and increase your reach. They reckon Rebecca Adlington gets 10-12 extra inches on each stroke by doing this which, over x number of strokes taken over 4km, will add up to quite a lot in the efficiency stakes
• Pull through - this makes sure your stroke is as long and powerful as possible - think about pulling through straight and deep and right past your thigh until your hand comes out of the water.

And that was that. 30 minutes later and I already had plenty to think about during my next session.