Today I had the opportunity to swim with Louis Tharp, author of The Overachiever's Diary. I drove up to his saltwater pool and swam about 1200y of drills. It was a very interesting learning experience.
We started with a range of motion test. Apparently, I am in the 90th percentile for flexibility. Who knew?
Drills consisted of arm entry, high elbow, patient hand (catch up, kind of), and stability/balance drills. Plus a focus on my kick throughout the last half of the workout. I learned a lot about the body in the water, which I will apply to my current training. He likened swimming to training on a balance ball. You don't have to tell your body to make certain adjustments to balance on the ball, you shouldn't have to consciously tell your body how to "balance" in the water. I like that idea, it gives me a different perspective on my body in the liquid.
At the end of the workout, Lou mentioned that I could be a "good" swimmer. He also mentioned that I should be able to swim :52 / 50yards quite easily and my race pace could be as low as :42 / 50 yards if I continue to improve. This sounds nice.
The meeting concluded with a compliment on the workout overall - something Lou confessed that he doesn't say often, which was nice of him to say - and an invitation to swim together again. I think I'll take him up on that.
Interesting experience. Good take-aways. Happy for the opportunity.
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