Water is not my element. There are no photographs of me as a child braving Scottish seaside waves or splashing in Spanish swimming pools. Visits to municipal pools with cousins or pals were characterised not just by no running, no bombing, and no petting, but also by no swimming. Mostly, I hung on to the side of the pool for grim death, and on to the promise of cafeteria chips afterwards. School swimming lessons were endured; echoes of chilly changing rooms still make me shiver.
Consequently, I swim, if you can call it that, with the grace of a drowning cat, desperately trying to keep my head above water while thrashing wildly and feeling ashamed as sleek others glide by, effortlessly cutting through water as though they were born to it.
Steven Shaw is one such type, though when he greets me in the pool and asks me to demonstrate my strokes so he can ascertain my problem areas (answer: all of them), he does so with friendly understanding and not a hint of smug swimmer superiority.
Shaw is a former competitive swimmer and has taught the Alexander Technique for more than 15 years. He applies principles of the technique to swimming and has come up with what is a holistic approach – covering everything from breathing to improving one’s strokes.
After just one lesson, during which I didn’t swim at all, I already felt more confident – buoyed, if you like – in the water. Only after he had taught me about balance, breathing and poise, and that panicking does not, as a rule, aid one’s ability, did Shaw take me through improving each stroke. We began with breast stroke, which he broke down into arm and leg actions, and it was really a revelation.
Shaw’s method is as much about unlearning bad habits as it is about learning new things. For me, key to my advance was making less – but better – effort. By taking deep breaths and strenuously stroking, I was knackering myself with very little positive effect. I viewed the water as an obstacle to be negotiated rather than an aid to be employed.
A lot of what Shaw teaches is counterintuitive, but the results are remarkable. Even more advanced swimmers than I – which is to say, almost everyone – could learn from him. Obviously, it’s with practice that improvement comes, but after two weeks, I am considering going swimming in my spare time for pleasure. I’m not quite swimming like a fish yet, but nor am I swimming like a cannonball.
Did it work? Yes.
Would you do it again? Yes.
Is it worth the money? Prices start at £55 for 45 minutes for one-to-one lessons, but there are group sessions, too. And it’s an investment, if you think about it.
What did you learn? That swimming is as much about attitude to the water as technique.
· The Art of Swimming, 020-8446 9442, artofswimming.com
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