Today I took Tobias with me to the Lions Pool for some morning swim training. We had agreed the day before that he was willing to give it a try.For his age Tobias is an excellent swimmer and has always had a natural way with water. Already at the age of 2 he was jumping off the 1 meter diving board and swimming to the edge. This was back in 2004 at the Whitehorse Aquatic Centre, while we were living in Melbourne. Nowadays he is in the water nearly every afternoon, playing with Christoffer (whose swimming is also coming along well) and the other kids in our complex. Miss Rosy, his swimming teacher, has recommended we enroll Tobias in a class for older children to take advantage of his potential.
Anyway, when Tobias and I arrived at the pool at 6 am he didn't want to jump in. He is careful by nature, so this was expected and after 30 min of watching me and others swimming he decided it was time to join in. He did the first 25 m breaststroke and then proceeded to do freestyle breathing on both sides, as he has been taught. I swam with him, taking a small break every 25 m, doing about 200 m in total.
He manages a 40 second 25 m which I think is excellent considering his age. For comparison I can swim a 33 second 50 m which is a lot faster than him, but ridiculously slow compared to the world record. I am sure Tobias will be able to shave at least 10 seconds of his time before his 6th birthday if he keeps practicing.
UPDATE: Today Tobias managed to swim 25 m in 34 seconds - an improvement of 6 seconds. I think he will soon break the 30 second barrier. With a bit more stamina, he will be able to keep a good position in the water all the way. Currently he loses speed during the final 10 m, which would appear to be lack of good form in the water causing excessive drag.
2 comments:
I concur. If you want your kids to learn to swim and enjoy swimming, Cayman is a great place. Our two boys are avid swimmers. The oldest, now 8, is on the YMCA swim team. I attribute this largely to their daily swims in Cayman. Btw, I've not introduced myself. I used to hold your position at ICTA up until hurricane Ivan. I stumbled upon your blog a month or two ago and have been following it since. I miss Cayman! In fact, for some reason I still read the net news and compass at least once a week. Superb journalism!
Regards,
David Burnstein
Hi David – thanks for your comments. This week I have spent some time reviewing old Decisions from 2004 where you name came up several times. Also had a look at your blog from your time in Cayman. Found some posts from the time of Ivan - that must have been tough!! So far living in Cayman has been a blast for us as a family and I have a good work life balance – something that at times was lacking in my previous job. For the future feel free to contact me on my e-mail jasper.mikkelsen@gmail.com. Cheers Jasper.
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