Coolest Job in the (Sea) World

Are you skilled at using gravity to show off? This isn't an ad or any of that, but today I was checking out my (this) site to see if all was in order and one of my adsense ads just blew me away. It was for Sea World. The ad was seeking (I paraphrase) skilled spring board and platform divers for SeaWorld Viva show jobs. Having been to Sea World on several occasions, in FL and Hawaii, I got to thinking. Where do they have diving? Well they've got some that dive and assist with the killer whales show. I'm too old and floppy to have ever been a high-diver, but if you've got the skills, here may be your chance to be the envy of everyone who has ever visited a waterpark. Scoll through the adsense links above and maybe the ads are still there. If not, you might try Sea World directly or try googling whoever hires talent for the place. Apparently, they've got some openings that require someone skilled at using gravity to show off. PS I get paid if you click on the link. That's some new law, I have to tell you that. So ok, I've told you.

Danny Kunze - World Record High Dive

Another one for the swimming heros award - I think I need to add a sub-category for the real whack-jobs. This guy seems sane until he starts going higher, and higher, and ... yeah, he's a whack-job, but he is still alive so ... hmmm.

Feeling Fatigue? You May be About to be Awesome

I've heard about bio-rhythms for as long as I can remember, and as I age, I am starting to notice my own body cycles a little bit more. One particular oddity stands out in my mind and one I'm just starting to see as a pattern is in my body's ability to accommodate a hard workout. A week ago, and for the week prior, I noticed a discernible decline in my ability to get through a full-speed workout without giving out half-way or two-thirds of the way in. The workouts seemed to get progressively worse as time went by. Then a couple days ago, things went the other way - I was getting stronger and stronger, faster and faster - and on Tuesday I had one of the best workouts I've had in years. This has happened before but only now am I beginning to discern that indeed it follows a pattern. I need time to define what is happening, if I can. Is it my diet? I have had more protein lately. Is it my sleep? I've had some bad nights and some good ones. Maybe something else? Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Super Family

I think I may have posted this before, but I stumbled across this on the web this evening and had to share it (again?). Enjoy and pass it on (oh, and emulate if you dare).

Does Swimming Pool Temperature Matter?

We have a new pool director at the indoor pool I frequent during the cold season. She has added an innovation to our pool room, an information board. It includes among other things, the names of our lifeguards, the date, the weather (outside), pool activities for the week, and the pool temperature that day. The board is updated daily so it did not take us regulars long to realize something was screwy about the reported pool temperature. The reported figure never varied by but a degree, but we experienced swimmers knew better since the feel (to us) jacked around like a jumping bean. Generally if the temperature was 84 or more (think 85 - 87) the board reported it at 83. Below 83, same deal (though we only got to witness that once, but for a week). I asked a guard about this. The reply I got back was something to the effect that "she" (the pool director) didn't like to report temperatures when they were out of line ... the members just get mad. Well, duh. But we get even more upset when we're treated like stupid imbeciles. I've come to expect the warmer temperatures. The director seems to find it easier to appeal to the dippers rather than the swimmers. I enjoy jumping into warm water as much as anyone, but much after that and you can have it. We swimmers fatigue faster with warmer water. My time to the mile can vary by as much as a minute and a half dependent on the water temp. So given that cooler water temps are out of the question, I've taken to faking myself out by taking a hot shower before my jump in the pool. The hot shower makes my first few laps feel relatively cool, gets me going faster than I might otherwise. I still fatigue out faster than I might in cooler water, but at least I feel like I have some control.

Pushing Swimming Pulls

No that title is not a typo - by swimming pull, I mean the pull in freestyle. (swimming pull - kinda cool name, huh?)

I wanted to talk about swimming pulls and pushes today because I am fighting myself to do them properly.

Done properly, the freestyle stroke begins as a pull down to approximately one's chin and following a transition point (the S) turns into a push back towards and to the thigh. Lots of people skip most of the push and bring their arm back up (to begin their reach again) prematurely (before completing the push). This simple error can eliminate as much as 1/2 of the stroke's power potential.

I'm fighting this myself. I naturally want to start my arm back toward the front as soon as I've reached my waist. If I concentrate on it, I can add an additional foot of thrust (push) to each stroke.

Unfortunately, it can be fatiguing if one is not accustomed to doing this additional work. I'm practicing when I go slow, with the hope that it will build the muscle for faster workouts later.

It's Flu Season - How Hard Should I Work Out?

A fascinating article in today's NYTimes, titled, "Phys Ed: Does Exercise Boost Immunity", says that scientists have found a correlation between amount of exercise and immunity.

The author, Tara Parker-Pope, says that studies found that mice, exposed to viruses, who ran to exhaustion, were more prone to the negative impacts of the virus than those that exercised more leisurely.

Given the high virulence of H1N1, I highly advise reading the NYT article.

So I guess this is a "Don't feel so guilty this season when I do a half-assed workout" (get-out-of-jail free) card.

If you can't swim maybe you're trying too hard

It never ceases to amaze me how hard people work when they are swimming or trying to swim. We've all seen these people - perhaps you are one of them. They flail their arms and legs, twist their bodies every contorted direction and push water around the pool so much so that a tsunami warning ought to be issued, yet they make little to no progress in propelling their body across the pool. And if they do get anywhere, they are wiped out within 25 meters of doing so. Meanwhile, the guy in the next lane over has gotten down and back in as few as eight strokes. What gives?

Perhaps you are trying too hard. The guy in the next lane can pull off the eight stroke lap because he is using the dynamics of physics to his advantage. If you look at anyone who can pull this feat off successfully, I can almost promise you'll see the following:
1. The good swimmer is keeping his body line straight throughout the stroke - this means as he goes through the water, he cuts through it like a knife so there is minimal resistance (unlike the contorted body swimmer who creates a wall of water between himself and his destination with each stroke).
2. The good swimmer keeps his hands and arms in line with his body - they do not flair out to the side like an owl. Think, which is faster in a dive, the owl or the eagle?
3. The good swimmer has a long pull, from the furthest point in his reach forward, to the furthest point he can reach behind. The flailing swimmer using only a small percentage of the available stroke distance.
4. The good swimmer uses little energy to propel himself. Fact is ... the good swimmer spends a huge proportion of time in the stroke gliding compared to the flailing swimmer. The flailing swimmer does not glide at all.

Leaking Swim Goggles Solution Needed

I wish I had a solution for leaking goggles and am hoping some inventive swimmer out there would like to share his/her solution with the masses (and no, getting another pair is not the creative solution I'm seeking). BTW, I'll give you full credit or the solution!

I've got the problem in two new pair (an older third pair does not have the problem) and it drives me nuts. The leaks are both in the right-hand lens gasket (both are rubber molded frame goggles) which I thought might have something to do with the shape of my face, but I've ruled that out when I found that the seal between my face and the eye cup was at fault. When I wet my face and press the goggles to it to get a tight seal, I hear air sucking into the cup and the goggle falls off my face. This does not happen with the left side which holds a tight seal.

Anyone have a solution?

What to do if an owl falls in your swimming pool

Yes an owl. I know this is something everyone wants to know, so I had to link to it. :) Here's the story. Nice pictures to go with it.

When to Get a New Swim Suit

I had to buy a new swim suit last night after concluding the two I had been swapping between daily swims were both dead and gone beyond hope. How did I decide? If you are a regular swimmer, you know that the typical lycra suit lasts a given amount of time and then it just dies. Seriously, swim suits die. Mercifully, the death is usually quite fast if you know what to look for.

Here's how I know when my suits have died.
1. They don't hug tight to your body when dry. If they are barely loose, they are already dying. If they sag, they are dead.
2. They billow up when you are swimming. These are dead too. Stay in the pool and feel your performance fail you. Get out and watch what gravity does to your tightly toned buttocks.
3. They develop a molting look, generally in the seat area. This is where the fabric has lost its elasticity. If you look closely, you may actually see the broken elastic in the weave of the knitting. This eventually breaks down to the point where the suit is nearly see-through (especially dangerous with any non-black suits).

So, when your suit is dead, do yourself and everyone else a favor and get a new one ASAP.

One Mean Swim Coach

Here is a man-made pond that I'd like to swim in. Nice, creative landscaping (humor). When going past this thing, I think I'd consider breathing on the other side.

Swimming Boredom Solution? MP3 player that gets wet

I've been wondering about these MP3 players that go in the water and I came across this video today which was embedded in an ad inside Swimming World Newsletter. Excellent presentation and quite informative. No, I'm not endorsing the product - I've never used it. But this video is cool and makes me want to try it. Kind of pricey, though. Hey, Finis! Send me one to try and I'll post a writeup here on this blog.

Free Diving - Details Revealed from the Deep

I just finished a great article in the Aug 24, 2009, issue of The New Yorker about the sport of free diving. It goes into tremendous detail about what happens to the body, mind, and of course, lungs, during a free dive. Excellent reading. Sorry, no link since it is available online only to New Yorker subscribers - I just found that out. Get this issue - you won't be sorry.

Underwater Rugby

Looks like a good way to train - I'm serious.

Check out the cool pics on the Moof.com website.

Using a wet suit to train? Are you as worthy as this guy?

How to get rid of cankles

I'm no physical trainer but I feel I've found a remedy for cankles.

What are cankles? --> ankles that don't slim down below the calf creating the appearance of a seamless area between the knee and the foot. Great name huh?

The remedy? Swim! Put an emphasis on kickboard work. Even if you can't swim, you probably can do kickboard. (No kickboard? Loop a pool noodle end over end and point those ends forward, hold the sides just like you would a kickboard.)

When kicking, try to point your toes higher than your heels as you swim your foot up toward the surface. When you draw down toward or into the water, flop your feet. Try to create a splash.

All this will work the ankle/calf region and tone that area. Do this several times a week for at least 10 minutes. Expect this length of time to be a bit difficult at first - build up to it if you must. You will quickly become accustomed to kicking for distance.

You should start seeing results in a month. Stick with it a year and your legs should start really looking in shape.

For expert advice, ask a physical trainer or swimming coach.

Scared of Swimming? A good reason to not feel bad about that

I found this link under the heading, "Why I'm Scared of Swimming".

Ordinarily I would argue, but in this case, I simply can not. The author has a pretty good argument (pics too).

How many lifeguards does it take to guard me?

Woke this morning to the wonderful pitter patter of rain on my west facing window. It's a sound I love and I would have preferred to lie there and just enjoy the sound but my personal drive to not allow much of anything get in the way of my workout won over and I found myself at the pool. The Masters group was just leaving as the sun was coming up and those people (if you can call them that) - like werewolves and vampires - disappear at first light. I digress, anyhow, upon my second lap, I found myself with my own 50 meter pool - just me and (get ready) six lifeguards surrounding the pool (yes I said SIX). I completed about 7/8ths of my workout (about 50 minutes worth) before another person dipped a toe in the water. I really regret keeping my face under water (doing freestyle) that whole time. It really was quite special. I just have to wonder, if I had had trouble, which guard would have jumped in first, or would they all just looked at each other and continued to hug their knees under their towels that was kept the rain off.

A Guy Takes His iPhone to the Pool and ...

Watch it to the end - that's where things happen. Ooops!