The Swim Lesson

A Choreography

To swim well is artistic athletic sensuality.  The swim is a freestyle art form of dance, choreographed to move with minimal effort through cool waters.  My friends, too many do not swim well leading to frustration and effort wasted.  A swim lived well will leave you exhilarated and wanting for more.

Follow these simple lessons dear friends.  Remember these simple lessons and you shall always swim well.

As a swim is choreography you must also have a partner, an imaginary partner, who will always remain in front of you, providing you guidance, assisting your need, bringing your effort to climax and joy.  Hold your imaginary partner dear as they are your key to unlocking the heart to the pinnacle of water prowess.

This lesson adheres to a single simple rule: be steady on the side.  Now dear friends a myth of swim is the swimmer is flat and level and indeed may well choose to be.  But let it be known the swiftness of motion, the joy of the movement, the glide of moisture across body can only be felt in an undulating rotation from side to side.

Your technique is simple and improves with practice.  Practice often.  Your partner and you must be face to face joined together waist to waist, breast to breast, one body in motion you move rotating as one first right side down, then back across your centers, and then left side down.  Repeat.

Your motion co-joined, you are rigidly as one turning on the pivot point running from head to loin, fingers meshed, nose to nose, you slide easily together in slow deliberate motion, side to side.  Do not wave my friends, rotate.

Practice my friends.  This motion must be felt as only emotion can be felt.  Be steady from side to side, and across common and centre plane.

The stroke is a sensual feeling act.  Your hand will grab and pull, will sustain your movement as your body and your partner’s body rotate in slow deliberate co-joined motion through the water.

Release your enmeshed hands while bodies are at their centers.  First your right arm will reach slowly upward moving in an arc as your rotation turns your bodies down to your right side.  Your hand will dip into the water ahead of your arm.  Flick your hand inward so the tip of your thumb gently touches the crown of your partner’s head.

Lightly, deliberately your thumb will trace the nape of the head down the undulating bones of your partner’s spine, hand flat pulling your bodies through the warm moist fluid ether.  Your hand will reach its end near your partner’s waist.  As you begin your turn back to your centre flatten your hand against the small of their back lightly tickling sensation as your arm takes your hand around to the edge of your hip resting momentarily there in anticipation of your next stroke.

Your arms, your hands are in constant motion.  First your right side, rotating, joined as one tracing, tickling the back, then your left.  Constant motion, in tandem with each other, fingers tickling, hand caressing, motion within motion.

You are joined dear friends, close to partner, in singular motion, assist to assist heightening awareness.  Yet only your bodies are in movement, your arms in caressing motion, pulling you forward to destination.

Your swim is a whole body experience necessitating your legs to support your stance, to glide you, to guide you in forward motion.  Your legs must move you inward and outward, they must flutter.

Your legs are flexible not bending.  Toes pointed face to face your kick comes from the base of your ribs.  Your lower body is waving back and forth from breast to toe, in and out.  A kick will break your pairing.  Only by waving your lower body joined tightly to partner, rotating your movement, caressing hands tickling, will your entire body reach its climax, its steady, effortless, breathless motion forward.

We require dear friends air to breath.  Our partners below are fully immersed in liquid, assisting our motion, rotating our closeness, waving our bodies in and out, holding our embrace, appreciating our caress, trusting.  We like our partners dear friends and because of this respect we wish our partners to live as one with us, to breath the same air we breath.

Your breath inward comes as you are fully on one side.  Your partner trusting, their head turned sideways just below the water, cheek to cheek they help you lift your head above the waters edge so you may pull air deeply and purposefully, to grant you energy to continue your dance.

As your turn moves back to center you must begin to exhale, lightly blowing bubbles across your partner’s cheek briefly stopping at centre, lips fixed to lips to share the air you breath, to live loved, as one. 

Your release assured as you continue to rotate to once again pull breath of life, of energy.

In swimming we share two elixirs of life: water and air.  You need never be alone in this very singular of efforts.  Your partner, imaginary they may be, is one in you.  You share an experience of mind rotating to motion, joined rigid centre to centre, moisture passes as bodies caress and legs waiver back and forth inward and outward, air comingle as lips they join in life and closeness.

These lessons be simple, these lessons be real.  Dance to your rhythm.  Live well to your motion.