When our group gets together, often "tri-speak" dominates the conversation. One topic that keeps surfacing is "how in the hell are some people such fast swimmers and others not"?; usually this question is posed by us slower folk. I do my drills...I've got the catch...whipping on a solid throw...working the hips...so what's the freakin' deal?
At lunch today, I had a chat with John, the owner of Dean Bikes . Not only is he a sick frame builder and arteest...he's a life long swimmer; as are his wife and now kids...he has a daughter that's a star atop her pre-adolescent age group. When I asked him the question that has vexed us for what seems like forever...he said "you need to learn when you're young, really young...that's when you totally figure out to get thru the water, FAST."
So, I equate his answer with speaking a foreign language, because at a really basic level (for humans) swimming is just that. If you learn when you're a baby...fluency is mastered much more easily, readily...if you learn late...habla un poco...if you haven't learned until now...habla nada!......Not really, just the learning curve steeper and achieving fluency are much more difficult to attain.
So, next time you're in the water, getting you ass handed to you...logic dictates that the ass-hander was most likely a baby fish...and the handee not.
2 comments:
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Mike, the slow runners say the same thing about the fast runners (and avg runners if I'm being honest, I'm that slow). It's all about technique practiced over and over and over again. It's like riding a bike, you never forget how. I'm by no means fast, but I rarely practice. 8k yards a day from 7th grade through 12th grade give you a base to look back on, even now almost 20 years later. This is why my kids learn to swim now.
Congrats on the Ironman again, inspring.
Paul
www.familyfanclub.blogspot.com
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