Monday, October 13, 2014

Swim Team

Swimming is one of those basic skills I feel all of my kids should have a handle on before they grow up and leave my care.  We've done basic group lessons at the Y sporadically over the years, and my kids are comfortable in the water, but this last summer I decided I wanted them to have training in more specific strokes rather than just let them keep paddling around however.  We ended up enrolling them in private lessons, and that worked out really well.

The Y was nice about letting us sign up for the regular blocks of time and then splitting that time up amongst our various kids.  They each got at least two private lessons, and they advanced much more quickly than they would have in another group class.

The teacher was particularly impressed with Mona's abilities, and told me that she expected by the last lesson Mona would be ready for the Swim Team if she wanted to join.  The Swim Team met at the same time in the evenings as our private lessons so we could see it in action in the next couple of lanes.  All the kids were about Mona's age, happily doing laps and being coached by some young, energetic Y people.  It looked fun, so I introduced the idea to Mona and let her think about it.  She can be shy, so I knew it would need time to sink in before she'd consider giving it a go.


We're not a sports family.  I understand some of the appeal of actually playing a sport yourself, but I don't relate to watching people you don't know play games.  The closest I can get to understanding that is to compare it to hearing professional musicians perform.  It's exciting to watch people do things really well, so I get that.  It's the being emotionally swept up in something that ultimately I don't see the point of that, frankly, makes me nervous.  There was a German teacher at my high school who would not attend the football pep rallies because the fervor of the crowds reminded her too much of Nazi rallies.  That makes sense to me.  I am often uncomfortable when an assembly of people becomes a unified crowd, and I don't want to lose myself in that unless it's for a greater purpose.  Scoring points under an arbitrary set of rules doesn't qualify in my book.  But I understand that it's important to others, and I would never begrudge someone that.  People like what they like, and I accept I am in the minority in not liking sports.  I just wish sometimes that people put half as much energy into important problems as they did into following professional games, and the world might be a much better place.

Anyway, since sports don't interest me personally, I've never pushed them on my kids.  I offer regularly to sign them up for whatever they like if they want to try it, but they are reluctant joiners.  If they wanted to play a sport I would certainly support them and I would have fun watching a game they are in, but it hasn't come up, and that's been fine with me.

Swim Team at the Y, though, has been my kind of sport, and I'm glad Mona decided to join.  It meets four nights a week, and you can pick any two nights that work for you, and there is a meet once a month that's optional.  Most of the time we go on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but if something comes up and we have to switch days we can and it's no big deal.  Even though it's a "team," swimming is still about individual work and achievement, which is a good fit for Mona.  The coaches are funny and nice.  They play music at practice; people dance while they wait for their turns to dive.  There is a lot of swimming and training and at the end of the hour there is usually a game of some kind (like Sharks and Minnows, or a timed obstacle course).  It's a great time, the kids are happy, and Mona is doing really well.  She's a strong swimmer and getting better every week.

For me it's been good because on Swim Team nights I do my daily laps in the evening while Mona's training.  We end up going to the Y as a family: Ian works out in the gym upstairs, Aden and Quinn play in the smaller pool, and I can usually get in a mile and a half in my own lane while I watch Mona swim with her team.  It's been a really nice routine to get into, and it even takes care of showers for all the kids a couple of times a week.  I love Mona's Swim Team.

In terms of my own swimming I realized the other day that I've reached a sort of milestone.  I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but getting my swimming (or some form of exercise) in has become a daily necessity.  When I began swimming laps a few years ago I had to make myself get up and do it every day.  If I was short on time because of an unusual project I didn't mind missing a day of swimming to do it.  Now I work around the swimming.  It's become not optional for me.  The same way I simply assume I must get the kids to school or go to my job, I assume I will swim.  When I don't swim, I feel it.  I still resent the time it takes up, and I'm not pretending swimming a mile almost every day is easy, but the fact that it's no longer optional in my mind means I am likely to stick with it.  Which is great, because exercise is important, whether you're into sports or not.

I'm trying to instill that in my kids, too.  When they've been curled up with screens too long I tend to rouse them and declare we are going out to move our bodies around.  Most of the time right now that means swimming at the Y, but sometimes it means kite flying or roller skating or biking or running around the park looking for fairy doors.  I was the kind of person who could easily spend a whole day in one spot with a book, but now at some point I know I must move.  I want my kids to have the same impulse to exercise both their bodies and their minds.  I'm glad Swim Team has become a part of that equation.

10 comments:

  1. Seems like exercise either works or fails based on whether it can be integrated into an easy routine. That fact that everyone can go at the same time and accomplish something makes it a winner. And showers to boot! I could swim a mile and a half in the time it takes Claire to take a shower. And it's not because I'm a good swimmer! M

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    1. I think you're right, routine is the key. I tell the adult beginners who want to take up violin that success in their situation seldom has anything to do with enthusiasm or talent and more to do with fitting it in their schedules. I encourage them to rent an instrument for six months just to see if they make it a habit before they consider buying something.

      Showering all the kids at once is such a bonus! Plus we're going through fewer towels here. (I'm at the Y so often I think I've only showered at home about twice in the past year.)

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  2. I totally agree about the routine thing... Somehow I've turned running into that... Still wrapping my head around "how". I'm glad swimming works for you- so great to have a low-impact exercise that you can do for the long haul! And think of all the money you are saving on electricity by taking showers elsewhere- genius!!!
    -Lisa

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    1. Huh. That comment reads super awkwardly now... It made sense in my head. I think I'll blame my phone....

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    2. Oh, it made sense just fine!

      I wish I liked running. It would be so convenient to just do that instead of needing a pool to exercise. But I hate it so much it's ridiculous. Like, every inch of me finds it jarring and horrible. But maybe when I'm down to decent weight it would feel different and I should try it again. Or not! The odds of my hurting myself by twisting an ankle or something while running is high, so I'm probably safer in the pool.

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    3. It is easy and convenient, but swimming is much more tolerable for the body in the long run. (The lack of quick and easy access to a pool definitely prevents me from doing it, but maybe one day!). I really think it's weird that I like running now... I have always hated it... So I totally understand ��

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  3. I can relate to so much of this! I have never managed to muster any interest in sport, and find it weird the way people identify so strongly with successes and failures that they played no part in. I guess it's an outlet for the part of us that hankers after membership of a tribe...
    I too was a kid who could easily spend all day with my nose in a book, but I know I need to get my kids moving. I've not really found my 'thing' yet, though I think running is the closest I'll get to a form of exercise I don't completely hate.

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    1. Tribalism is exactly what I dislike about sports. Anything that artificially divides people or grants them a false identity makes me very nervous. (It's a granfalloon, to quote Vonnegut.) But actually moving around and playing games is great. I could shoot free throws all day, and am sad that our house doesn't have decent space for a basketball hoop in the backyard.

      Swimming works for me because as much as I don't like taking the time to exercise, the actual act of swimming is always pleasant. Plus I come out cleaner at the end, so that's a plus.

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  4. There is something fun about swim team, and Mona's sounds delightful. :o) I think swimming is the perfect sport for Lil for the same reasons you mentioned for Mona.

    After getting out to walk and/or jog daily for the past three years, I NEED to get out and move. If I don't it seems to have a negative impact on my mood and energy levels. It's definitely routine at this point, and really, I'm happy to do it--most of the time...;o)

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  5. Everyone should learn how to swin at some point, and a lot more should just own it more often, such as what you did there. You should really keep that up. You should also go on pool trips more often, enough to really step up that kind of skill set. All the best!

    Peter Weiderman @ Guardian Pools

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