Swimming Test

Nick and I leave for Cub Scout Summer Camp on Friday. It should be a great weekend filled with tons of fun activities: swimming, boating, archery, BB guns, pony rides, campfires, skits, and flag ceremonies. Nick, like any red-blooded American boy, is most excited for the shooting activities. Yesterday he asked me if things "blew up" when you shot them with a BB gun. I had to break the bad news to him - no explosions, just tiny holes in a piece of paper. He took it pretty well, though I imagine a small piece of childhood died on hearing it.

The first activity of camp is the swimming test for both adults and kids. Now Nick isn't quite ready to pass any of the tests. Next year he should be able to pass the first level. My goal for this year is to pass the swimmer test.

Now I should probably include some background here, because passing the swimmer test is probably not a big deal for most normal people. Unfortunately I am not a normal person. The Scout swimming test was the bane of my scouting existence when I was a kid. Why? Because I just couldn't swim and I hated the water.

I was always uncomfortable in the water for some reason and I remember HATING swimming lessons. It might have helped if I hadn't been sent to a freezing outdoor pool at some ridiculously early hour for lessons. It also might have helped if the teachers were not graduates of the Wicked and Cruel Swimming Teachers Academy. What chance did I have? (OK - in the interest of fairness, the pool was probably not that cold, it probably wasn't that early in the morning, and the teachers were probably more patient with me than I deserved.) Worst of all, Mom and Dad didn't force me to stick with it.

Anyway, I've never swam well. As an adult I've developed enough technique to get by without drowning in hotel pools. I can swim on my back decently.

This upcoming swim test has motivated me to get my butt in the pool, swim decently, and pass the frakkin' test. I intended to start practicing for the test back in June, but I procrastinated. For the past week or ten days, though, I've been hitting the pool pretty frequently.

I've made some real progress with my front crawl. I still struggle with getting a comfortable breathing rhythm and I use my arms too much. However, I'm pretty close to the point where I think I can pass the test. I'm also liking the workout that I'm getting from swimming, so I'd like to make it part of my routine as a break from running. I still hate swimming, but for some reason I'm enjoying making myself go to the pool. (Apparently the difference between Kid Chris and Adult Chris is that Adult Chris is a masochist.)

On Friday evening I'm going to hit the pool and see if I can exorcise some childhood demons. Wish me luck.

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