Waterboy

My daughters may never know the joy of 'mandi sungai' the way people in my age region did when we were kids. You know - open, clean stream, clear, cold water... 'terjun tiruk', fish-hunting, swinging from tree-branches and 'berdebush' in the river.

We used to stay in the water for hours on end fooling around and spotting fishes until all our fingers shrunk and we would shiver by the bank with teeth clacking. Most times our grannies would come shouting for us to end our adventures, or else...

I enjoyed swimming... errr perhaps moving in the water is more precise. but I remembered that I could swim and thread water. That is why I do not understand why now I am so afraid of water. This phobia in water depth beyond my body height, that I had to do something. I need to conquer this fear of water, not so much into enjoying it first, but as a survival tool.

So enter swim classes by coach Eric, on Fridays with Nik Arief and Kash at Hartamas.

Similar to my many months of walks in 2007 before I started to run, I started over with - bubbling. If this starts to make you giggle, that makes you think you are reading from a 5 year old, please exit this blog now and save me some face :).

Bubbling is a basic breathing technique of short inhales through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth. Capacity of air - 60-70% only. The key here is frequency, not the amount of air you keep in your lungs. Quick breaths, quick strokes.

See, I didn't know that. I learnt something new and useful.

Anyway, today is the third day, and I have managed a slow freestyle swim across the 25m pool. Glide - left arm pull, blow bubbles, breathe in the right hand stroke. Repeat. I lost count how many laps I did today but it started to feel fun and effortless, although there are many moments of struggle, but I managed.

Keep hands 3 inches (agak-agaklah) under the water, keep them straight, face perpendicular to the pool to align body float, and kick. Sometimes I think it's too technical and synchronising is always one of my biggest problem. Doing so many (important) things and remember to relax are a little hard.

Homework - 20 laps 25m pool.

Next week - breaststroke swims...

After the swim, Nik Arief told me that he learnt swimming through internet for the first 3 years! Amazing! I thought I was loony for looking into youtube hhhahaha. Long way to go...