Let's See What We're Working With

This morning Drew and I got up early and headed over to the NYSC to go swimming. While he knows how to swim I don't think he'd be too upset for me to say that he's not the best at it. He had told me that over the winter he'd really like to try to go swimming a few more times, so today was our first shot.

We got in the water and Drew just looked at me and said, "Okay, what do I do?" I told him that he should just swim a little ways so that I could see what we were working with. He swam about half-way down the lane before stopping, which was enough for me to see that he could be a decent water polo swimmer, but maybe isn't the best at putting his head into the water and breathing to the side.

I'd say that the biggest thing for him to work on is the fact that he likes to pull his head straight up and then roll to his side rather than just rolling to the side. He said that he feels like he doesn't get a big enough breath if he just rolls to the side. I tried explaining that he should stay rolled until he feels like he's gotten enough air, which he definitely tried, but I'm not sure he's quite got the hang of it yet. I also think that part of the problem might be that he's not exhaling enough, so I suggested that he blow out his nose, which I think he tried, but that's harder for me to see.

The entire time (other than the first little bit) I had Drew use a pull buoy because he's a bit of a sinker, so that helped keep his hips up and without kicking, it was one less thing for him to have to worry about. I do think that he got better by the end of our half an hour in the pool. I don't think that he'll win any races anytime soon, but in general, his arm form looks pretty good. If we could just tie in the breathing, I think he'd actually be good.

I didn't get much of a workout in (I spent a lot of time doggy paddling behind him watching his form), but I was 100% okay with that. Sometimes it's nice to just be able to have fun and share this whole triathlon thing with someone else.