I’m Sinking!

The two things I learned from my swim stroke video analysis are:

1) I swim like a windmill – meaning I do not bend my arms at the elbows whatsoever when I’m pulling through the water.
2) My hips sink when I swim. My entire body is pretty much at a 45 degree angle with the surface of the water.

For those of you who are not swimmers, let me clarify: neither of these is a good thing! In fact, they both impede smooth and swift forward progress. It’s amazing to have spent years swimming and never had these two significant flaws brought to me attention. There’s really only so much one can see from above water, but the underwater video tells all. I can easily understand why some people watch their videos and proclaim, “That’s not me!” But there I was, in my unmistakable black and pink TYR suit, going nowhere fast.

The good news is that Coach Nick says if I can improve just those two things, I will swim noticeably faster. We’re headed to the pool this afternoon for a workout, so I’m eager to apply my new knowledge and crush my previous PR!