Temperature Matters - 29th September 2013

What an incredible summer we had! I cannot recall having to don a warm top during the day for the best part of two months! I caught myself once or twice in the summer checking to see if I had begun to take it for granted and yes there were signs. However being British I chastised myself for this and made an effort to appreciate the genuine lack of any heat seeking tension in my body each day.

Now as autumn arrives I begin to notice the first signs of the ambient temperature having an impact on some of the swimming pools I teach in. Colder changing rooms, poolside air and pool water all have a bearing on attendance and the outcome of swimming lessons in the winter and even more so for those who are afraid. I am lucky enough to teach at a small school pool where the water and air temperature are well above average and lessons there consistently produce faster progress than other cooler places.

As winter comes upon us I understand that the starting temperature of water entering the pool system is cooler and outside cold increases heat loss making running costs rise for pool operators and any heating breakdowns can take a while to notice and also to fix. There are ways of reducing heating costs over the winter months however such as blanketing the water surface with a bespoke rolleable cover when the pool is unoccupied. That said I would also love operators to understand that there is a substantial cost to its clients being cold and there is certainly no benefit to allow delay of repairs to heating plant or lowering the thermostat to save on heating costs at anytime of year as the warmer the water the greater the progress made by the learners and swimmers. The reason: feeling cold is a major distraction and something that learners can ill afford when they already feel tense and reluctant to open out.

In the past everyone expected cold water unless they were at thermal springs like those in Bath Spa

and had to put up with it no matter the stage of their learning. It must have had a negative impact on learn to swim success rates although there are some suspected health benefits to habitual cold water immersion which intuitively led to the sea dipping habits of historical times. Today a steady warm temperature (water over 30 deg C and air 1 degree warmer than the water) is one of the greatest tools a swimming teacher can employ to reduce tension in the afraid and accelerate learning. If only swimming teachers had access to their pool centre's heating system and were equipped to deal with the vagaries of its maintenance!

                       "Fetch more slaves to stoke the furnaces.....I can't take my coat of in this"


Of course once someone has learnt to swim cold water swimming can be a refreshing delight, be necessary for a nicer workout or be a well managed challenge. It is also vital for all 'swimmers' to understand what it is like to be in cold open water so that they respect their own physiological limitations in natural environments but a comfortable temperature matters a great deal when you are learning.


        

"There's so much down there" 11th August 2013

While clearing my old paperwork in "The ineptitude pile" before it actually crushed someone I found a wonderful article in the Wildlife Trusts News (BBOWT) April 2013 about an artist going sea diving for the first time. I love sculpture and in particular the work of artists like Martin Hayward-Harris so was eager to read how Harriet Mead (harrietmead.co.uk) drew out beautiful underwater wildlife pieces from old tools and iron ware. The way she spoke about her diving experiences was thirst quenching.

"The sea is a whole world I had no knowledge of. We experience wildlife on land in so many ways that it's in our consciousness as children. But when you're an adult and you go underwater for the first time it's extraordinary."

There are communities in the world where such formative views are forged in childhood as their society makes it's living from the sea directly but Harriet's experience is rare in the UK. She goes on to describe the growing array of wildlife before her eyes as it is pointed out to her by an experienced guide and I cannot help but draw parallels with the revealing power of conquer fear instruction for those who thought they knew all there was to know about teaching / learning to swim. To record images of the wildlife she sketched underwater with a graphite stick on super thick water colour paper, bulldog-clipped to a chopping board. It was not easy for her with thick gloves on and the current moved her around but she "cracked on anyway" She then produced some stunning work from her sketches, welding sculptures herself into superb likenesses of a crab, a goby and a lobster from metal objects such as locks, molegrips and saw blades. I already treasure a chunky diver made of metal nuts and bolts purchased while on holiday in Egypt and would love to be able to look at one of her fabulous master pieces everyday.

The enthusiasm for the three dives she did sprang off the page too.

"You're used to seeing a lobster out of water where its legs aren't strong enough to support its weight. But seeing the creature in its environment, where its perfectly adapted, puts it all into context.... little cuttlefish hunting over the sand..... absolutely miniscule..... they are so charming..... a little puff of ink if they are scared" Then she concluded "Sea diving is one of those things where until you have done it you've no idea. From the shore you're just looking at the waves and shingle greyness. But there's so much down there." 

Now she wants to dive again and again and has purchased her own gear. I share her passion for what's down there and for letting people know what they are missing when they make assumptions about things from the surface. If only more swimming teachers were prepared to take a look underneath at what really goes on and not assume that they already know everything that their students will ever need. Also if only more people could appreciate and want to protect what lies under our coastal waters which are some of the best in the world for diving experiences. Infact, research work is constantly being done to record what we have around us in this regard and there is someone who wants to conquer their fear of water in order to be able to dive and fulfill their dream job when the tide comes in too so if you know of anyone who can sponsor them to do this please get in touch.

What goes on inside a learn to swimmer....?

http://youtu.be/ewG2fsutya8  What a fabulous inspiring clip about learning to swim! These people are really keen to speak out about their learn to swim process because they want many others to follow in their footsteps and know what it is like to succeed in the water. When you watch them speak and swim around, do you believe that they are giving an honest reflection of what is going on inside themselves?

This also leads me to ask. "Why is it important to know what does go on inside a learn to swimmer?"

As human beings we are all used to making working assumptions about what someone else is thinking and feeling. We do this by using our brain's mirror neurons and complex social experience to rapidly evaluate subconscious signs and signals to make a judgement about the nature of another's internal state. Sometimes we are right and other times we are completely wrong. Making these decisions without primary facts; based on assumptions is called using judgement heuristics.When people are learning to swim what they are thinking and how they are feeling is very important because it dictates WHAT they learn and HOW reliable they are in the water. In the past this internal consideration was widely neglected by teachers because it was assumed that to learn you always needed to push yourself beyond your own comfort zone. Some people will still dispute the need for any psychological comfort when learning to swim but as testimony from so many non-swimmers shows pushing can lead to failure far more often and insidiously than it makes a permanent gain. This may be perculiar to swimming infact because of the nature of our physiological controls; as we have a deeply primordial instinct for survival in water that overrides our intellect. The features of these primordial mechanisms need to be studied scientifically but I suspect a combination of trigger ratio for blood oxygen:carbon dioxide and the way we store heightened sensorial memories in our body and brain when we are in dangerous situations.

I spend alot of my time spotting discomfort in the water through body language and telltale tension can be viewed below the water far more easily than it can above. This helps me offer the most appropriate next step to people alot of the time. When someone needs close supervision to feel comfortable any physical contact with that person, for example holding their arm or touching their back as they float will tell you if they are holding any tension inside and gives you an idea of how they are feeling. I have however also come to realise that if you are not in direct physical contact with someone the only way to know with any certainty what someone else is thinking/feeling is to ask them. This is not because I am poor at reading some people's body language or because some signals are not being sent. It is because people are sometimes very well practiced at disguising their own emotions, denying they are uneasy and tactically managing fear. The extent to which some people can do this is really quite remarkable.

Fear management is a false economy in the process of learning to swim as the person is vulnerable to set backs which can lead to a disastrous collapse in confidence and control. Therefore bravery in learning to swim is absolutely as hazardous as niaivity.

Making Lemonade - 15th July 2013

Making Lemonade

Swimming with my family at Hinksey pool (heated outdoor lido) in Oxford is always a sheer joy. On one occasion a few years ago my husband decided to play a trick on me. Under the beaming sunshine he asked me to look down in the crystal clear water and then used his forearms to push some air down so that it all rushed upwards past my face as an explosion of bubbles. The experience was invigorating and exhilarating watching the jumbled streams of wobbly glass beads speed and spin past me. The finer bubbles stuck all over my face and neck and then slowly fizzed away. “Well how was that?” he grinned. “Lovely!” I said, “Like being in a glass of lemonade or champagne” we all played with the trick for ages, delighting in its simplicity and great beauty.

There is nothing like finding pleasure in the smallest of things, particularly when they are free and of course the trick has been used a lot in my lessons ever since. Recently I asked a group of children in deep water if they felt like trying to make lemonade there. They did so with gusto! This was stage 3 children using the wall for safety instead of the floor and they were content to laugh underwater as they hung there making their own soda streams jiggle past their faces.  Adults also enjoy making lemonade and it gives them a sensorial feast, a taste of what it would be like to jump in.

Talking of jumping in I was priviledged to visit Farleigh Swimming Club and revel in the sights and sounds of the Great British public enjoying a stunning stretch of the River Frome. Adults had transformed into children wherever you looked, swinging in off ropes, sneaking off on silent forays upstream at eye level with dancing blue may flies, struggling out of steep over hanging banks and water lily margins. I heard one lady say ”Well, I am going to come and do this every day for the rest of my life” and another said “We are so lucky to be here, it’s beautiful”  Everyone chatted as open strangers and picnicked, and adored the weather. One man commented to his companions that they looked calm and easy in the deep water while he could not stop moving, trying mentally and physically to stay afloat. One of his friends laughed like a disembodied head “Well my feet are on the bottom!”

Being afraid to speak

Just how many people are afraid to speak up about any unpleasant experiences in their watery past? Zoe and I have our suspicions it is of epidemic proportions as unresolved fears, even if small at first can grow out of all proportion when they are left or managed. Frank Skinner trying to overcome his fear of water in a very public challenge last year has opened the door a crack for many more people to want to have a look at what may lie on the other side. However, doors can be walked through in two directions. In other words this is mostly seen as an opportunity for many people to want to try again to learn to swim when it is also an opportunity for those who teach to take a look at what lies on the other side of the door at where the learner is coming from. I would like to know the reasons why this is not happening widely.

Recently Zoe and I heard a tale of how great trauma was inflicted upon someone by a swimming teacher and wondered just how that teacher would feel if they knew. Sadly the story the person told us is not uncommon and the truth is that some people would come out the otherside relatively unscathed. To that person however it was devastating and removed life long chances of enjoying the water until they came to us for help. The dilemma is therefore how to build a common thread of communication between the teacher and all pupils so that this unsconscious accidental damage routinely does not happen. If teachers do not look through the door at where their pupils are coming from and want to just override or manage fears then communication stops and fears get the chance to grow much bigger under the radar.

Let's also consider what learning to swim entails. A person is visiting a new and all encompassing environment that almost all of us are born to be able to take advantage of safely but as we are not adapted to be permanently submerged could lose their life in just a few minutes. Where else do we ask people to take on such a challenge? Dolphins, whales, otters, seals, duck-billed platypus and many others are at one with the water and yet they too cannot exist permanently below its surface. They learn how to take advantage of its qualities and minimise it's disadvantages and risks and they are also not born knowing every piece of information they will need to survive in it's challenges. This is why learning to swim is so different from any other activity. It is also why the pyschological side of it is so important and yet is so bizarrely neglected on a regular basis. It also means learning to swim need not be hard at all.

Why the psychological side is ignored is historical and allied to a lack of comfortable exposure time to what is an advantageous and natural environment for human beings. A strong case of use it or lose it. Aquatic knowledge is held in the social fabric and what it says has a huge impact on how comfortable people are in water and how successful they are at achieving their goals. The way to regain lost wider aquatic knowledge is clear. Encourage slow re-engagement with aquatic environments starting with splash parks (wonderful places to start) and the use of our own sense of personal safety to guide us while someone more experienced than ourselves guards our lives too. Feeling safe is as important as being in a safe environment. If you do not feel safe then you are not yet but if you stay comfortable you will have access to your superior human potential to learn. Being afraid of speaking about fear openly through a sense of shame or, blame or expectation of the unknown holds everyone back because the ANSWERS are out there waiting to be used as they have been for millenia. Let's sponge them up?!

Quite new to science a Malaysian fungi called Spongiforma squarepantsii.
 "Sponge bob comes to dry land and is found sitting under a tree?"

A Real Lack of Depth

Trying to remove ALL risk with inflexible blanket rules can place a genuine ceiling on learning for some.

How much access do adults and children have to crown depth water when they are learning to swim? In the UK learners are not routinely encouraged to use such deeper water because it is not considered to be safe for them to do so and anyway it is often taken up with semi-permanent lanes cutting across it. This is a sad loss to those in lessons who need to safely explore how their bodies and the water work together in the vertical plane. This may sound counterintuitive and even hazardous but when the rules are followed about only being with an experienced instructor, safely guarded and remaining within the learner's controlled comfort zone it is infact an important part of the learning to swim process. Being in crown depth water the learner can exchange the safety of the floor with the safety of the side or they can play with their feet being on the floor while their head is submerged safely next to the wall or a ladder. Many learners find it fascinating that their expectations of what will happen at this depth are all wrong. Many find a new sense of comfort that they do not plummet to the floor and stay there looking up at the underside of the water surface. Some also find that they feel more buoyant in deeper water because they know that the floor is out of the equation and their heightened psychological attachment to it evaporates. I note that water is a 3D environment and can't always be shallow enough to stand up in.

So whenever I teach people to swim I help them take safe and comfortable visits to deeper water so that they can explore monkey walking, anchored floating, uplift from the floor, vertical floating, bobbing, bouncing, treading and so much more. It is sad however that the space I need to do this in is often inaccessible to me and my students. I find this frustrating and long for a measured seed change. How wonderful it is to see the light of understanding come on in learner's eyes as they experience something that has held alot of fear for them! All it takes is a little deeper consideration by those who control pool usage to perhaps realise that what is not available may be causing more harm than good in the long run to some users. The same thoughts cross my mind about diving from the pool side too. There are so few swimming pools now where you are allowed to dive in because of some terrible accidents in the past that have led to a closing down of opportunities to experience something exhilirating. I know why this is so and I cannot disagree with sensible health and safety policy but.......properly guided deep water access is needed by learners and many more new designed pools need to have areas deep enough for new divers to try out safely or a disproportionate fear of deep water will only continue to spread far and very wide.

Why I am wearing a Twiband for Drowning Prevention Week - 27th june 2013

                             Why I am wearing a Twiband for Drowning Prevention Week    

Years ago I was walking towards a step ladder in a pool wanting to climb out when I saw a stationary child hanging in a vertical position in the water. It was an open public swimming session and I was there with my children to play in the water.There was simply something wrong with the image that was before me. I cannot put my finger on exactly what it was but I elected to act and lifted the child up from under the arms into the air. As their face broke the surface of the water they burst into a life giving gasp and thanked me profusely. They had wanted to get into the pool as soon as possible and had run away from their family to jump in with no thought for the depth of the water. The child's family came up as I was talking to them and expressed their deep gratitude in a few short moments. They all walked away and I thanked myself for following my instincts when I had risked a torrent of affront if I had been wrong.

The remarkable thing about the whole experience was the rapidity of it and the silence with which it started and left me contemplating it. Someone was going to drown sadly right under the chair of a lifeguard who did not know anything about the whole event because there was a staff change-over as the grateful family talked to me and then whisked the child away. I did not blame the lifeguards. I felt RELIEF I was there to back them up unseen and that I had fulfilled a duty to my fellow man. Lifeguards carry such weight on their shoulders and they enable us to enjoy the water. They deserve great respect and I actively encourage everyone around me to do the same. They are our stalwarts.

The experience has never left me and I hope it never left the child or their family but I also hope that they turned it into a positive reason to ensure a resilient swimmer developed and did not end up avoiding water altogether. So whenever there is a chance to prevent accidents in water I speak up and spread the word. As humans we should all aspire to fulfill such duties and be shown how best to help SAFELY.