The joy of learning to swim

breast stroke @ survival stroke, originally uploaded by sharonhappymorgue.

I did 25 laps today!

The actual breast stroke is more tiring than MY version of the breast stroke. LOL! :D

But the real thing is faster because it's more efficient. And when I got the techniques right my shoulders and my head were nearer to the surface, just like Liesel Jones'.

"Swimming's not about strength, it's about technique..." Harold was explaining while constantly fine-tuning my technique.

And now my whole body's aching because of the work out.

Still kinda rough here and there... but I'm feeling very pumped. Can't wait to hit the water again tomorrow!

Harold also taught me how to skin dive even though I was a little apprehensive initially because of what I read about hyperventilation and shallow water blackout recently.

Scary.

It's like this put simply. People who skin dive tend to hyperventilate before diving. This causes the carbon dioxide level to drop, arresting hypoxic drive. Our body needs a certain level of carbon dioxide to trigger respiration. So when hypoxic drive gets arrested, the divers don't "feel" the need to breathe, hence they experience blackout because of cerebral hypoxia or the brain runs out of oxygen.

This causes, of course, the divers to drown, even in shallow waters.

I read too much sometimes.

But I gave it a go anyway, and I found it fun in fact!

"It's like child's play" I think Brenda mentioned once...

But it wasn't child's play for me... it was scary and quite a daunting prospect before my first attempt.

But couldn't do 25m, I think just about 15m. Will try again tomorrow.

Don't worry. This will pass. I'm not a swimming nerd now. It's just something that I never thought I would be doing, so now when I'm actually doing it, I just can't believe it.

I saw some 5 or 6-year-olds learning to swim too just now... so cute and so much fun! And I also saw their watchful parents by the poolside...

I'll make sure my kids get the chance to learn to swim if they want to as early as possible....

Hehe... my kids? Hehe..

It's really my dad's fault for being overprotective and having irrational fear of the water I guess. He's never let me swim into waters higher than my waist growing up.

That's why I never told him about swimming in rivers and waterfalls, boat rides in choppy seas, white-water rafting in Sg. Padas, snorkeling in Redang when I went on "trips" with friends.

So can you imagine what his reaction was when I told him I wanted to go kayaking and then scuba diving during my current holiday?

He claimed that I had very high risk interests... LOL!!! But that he couldn't stop me if I wanted to go ahead anyways...

That wasn't the answer I wanted. I wanted him to realize that I take every safety precautions seriously, and that I'm not reckless. I also wanted him to realize that when it's time for me to "go", whether before or after him, it's really up to Him.

And I also wanted him to see that my sister's lifestyle was more "high-risk" than mine.... smoking, drinking, clubbing, late nights driving home alone...

:)

That sort of talked sense into him. Now he's very supportive of my swimming endeavor, even bragging a little sometimes to his friends that I'm learning to swim, WHICH IS EMBARASSING.

Like 90% of the population can swim.

LOL!!!

That's just dad. I wish I can convince him to learn to swim. It's for him to feel a little empowerment.

Mum persistently declined because of the swim suit issue. :) Muahahah!!!

Ok. Better stop here. Can yak the whole night. Bonne nuit!