I had my swim lesson with Tabitha today. For the first half, we practiced the breaststroke. I’m finally starting to get it. There are really only 4 steps: Pull, Breathe, Kick, and Glide. I seem to be much better when I remember to do the steps independently of each other. For the longest time, I was trying to pull and kick at the same time. Now, I just need to keep practicing. I’m hopeful that it will become easier over time. For the lifeguarding class, I don’t need to swim the breaststroke. But, if I go on to take WSI (Water Safety Instructor), I’ll need to swim 50 yards of each stroke as part of the prerequisites.
I can do the backstroke, elementary backstroke, crawl and almost breaststroke so far. Today, I felt like it was time to be introduced to the butterfly stroke. My instructor hates the butterfly. I can see why. It’s a very awkward stroke. After some examples and a bit of instruction, I attempted the kick. There was laughter all around. By the time my lesson ended, I felt a bit familiar with the stroke. I certainly think I’ll need to work on it more. I’ll also need to build endurance to be able to complete 50 yards. It’s a rather aggressive stroke.
I have one more lesson scheduled for next week. Unless there are lifeguarding skills to practice, we’ll probably work on the butterfly.