Learning to swim.. Quickly

Potency

I need to learn to swim in the next 3 weeks, before I go to an adventure center where a lot of activities are water based.
I can barely swim, and my problem is with breathing. Whenever I submerge my head, i get a nose full of water. It's obviously normal, but its uncomfortable, and I panic. Even when i wore a mask that covered my nose, i had a problem with regular breathing. Just the technique and timing.

Has anyone any tips to get rid of my fear? And is it possible to learn that quickly? Obviously I don't need to be an advanced swimmer, just be comfortable in water.

Stark

You must be trying to inhale while under water if you're getting a noseful. Normally the air in your nose should keep the water out, similar to when you submerge a glass of air under water. Maybe try pinching your nose and holding your breath underwater until you get confident at holding your breath without panicking.

padraig_f

It's kind of hard to learn quickly because a lot of learning to swim is muscle-memory which needs to be learned over a period of time, but any practice will be beneficial.

A couple of tips...
Try breathing out through your nose when your head goes into the water. If this isn't working you can get a nose clip, which can be picked up cheaply in most sports shops (though they can be a bit uncomfortable).

On breathing, practice in shallow water (1m) if possible, so you can relax and stop at any time. The mistake most people make is they lift their head up out of the water, which makes the rear of their body go down, causing a lot of drag. The correct technique is to roll your body so you hardly have to turn your head to breathe.

Practice breathing every 3 strokes, so you alternate sides. You'll probably feel more comfortable on one side initially, but it's not hard to learn bilateral breathing quickly. Exhale fully underwater so when your head emerges you're only inhaling air.

In general, try to keep your body balanced, so you're parallel to the surface of the water.

In terms of the pull, keep your arm outside the sides of the body and look to increase resistance on the forearm by keeping your elbow high.

Here's a useful video on balance/body position in the water:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2n_AceCr-c

And here's one on rotating to breathe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LqqNO3WYZ0

one2one

How I learned - made a friend through me into the deep end a few times. I quickly got confident that I wasn't goint to die!

Grudaire

Can I just make the point that you don't need to be a good swimmer for an watersports (If you're swimming you're doing it wrong ) You will be in the water a fair ammount, and being comfortable in the water is all you need to be.

Even a half decent doggy paddle should do for any of the watersports. Do practice the swimming as much as you can though, and enjoy the trip!

colblimp

one2one wrote: »

How I learned - made a friend through me into the deep end a few times. I quickly got confident that I wasn't goint to die!

IMO, that is the worst possible way to learn to swim. I presume you do mean throw, not through? :rolleyes:

My fear of water resulted from that kind of thing, although I'm now very confident in deep water.

A question to the OP - why are you going to an adventure centre and doing a lot of water based activities when you're scared of water?!

the_syco

colblimp wrote: »

A question to the OP - why are you going to an adventure centre and doing a lot of water based activities when you're scared of water?!

Seems they're trying to force themselves into it. That, or it's a trip they're going with work, or maybe a group that they partake in (such as Scouts)?

AngryHippie

For the adventure centre trip, you will have a lifejacket as they are mandatory, if you let the instructor/supervisor know that you are a little bit nervous, they will keep a close eye on you, you will have a wetsuit on too, which will is also pretty bouyant. Don't stress it, practice a little breath control and submerging your head and face, just to increase your comfort in the water. You'll be fine. If you to end up in the water, lie on your back, and relax, keep your movements slow, it'll help with your balance.
I've been on stag weekends with watersports, with people who cannot swim at all and are very nervous in the water, they were fine, just stay calm and enjoy the activities. You'll have a blast