Swimming then and now – a world apart

I remember swimming competitively in India as a kid with no swim-goggles or ear-plugs in heavily chlorinated water. We would swim during off-peak hours because we couldn’t take over the pool reserved for recreational swimmers. I remember bicycling to the sports club at 7:30PM and returning back at 9:30PM; sometimes riding doubles on our bikes. Because of heavy chlorine in our eyes, we would see rainbows around every street-light. Upon returning home. we would eat a relatively heavy dinner of fry bread, potatoes and lentils before hitting the sack hard.

Swimming is now a science. There are several philosophies on how to get faster and more efficient; one of them is “total immersion.” It is about SPL (strokes-per-length) and SR (stroke-rate); it is about nutrition and hydration; it is about interval training and god knows what else!

My SR is too slow and can be improved greatly. For this, I just bought a Finis Tempo Trainer which arrived in the mail today. It is a simple device that clips onto your goggles (or fits under your swim cap). You can adjust the tempo and it gives you audible signals to perfect your swim rhythm. We’ll see if it helps me get any faster!

I swam today at JCC for a bit more than 2,500 yards. We were doing 200s at level-2 and 200s at level-3 repeats. Will and I shared a lane for the tough workout!