My learn-to-swim students and my stroke correction/swimfit students will be sick of me banging on about ‘training your brain’ or one of my oft-repeated slogans of ‘learning to swim is 99% in your head and only 1% physical’, or perhaps ‘get the skill right in your head before putting it into practice in the water’. I also often talk about ‘visualisation’, which can be done just as easily (perhaps even more easily) at home in a quiet environment prior to coming to the pool. I also sometimes give a drill that is all about ‘brain training’ as a way to pack a swimming technique away in your brain so that it will never be lost.
 
Overcoming a fear of the water, learning to swim or developing a new swimming technique employs brain training, otherwise known as ‘neuroplasticity’. Neuroscientists developed the concept in the late 20th Century, prior to which it was thought that the brain became relatively static after childhood. Now it is known that the brain can remain changeable (‘plastic’) as we age. Of course, some ancient, pre-modern, cultures have known this for many centuries, such as through yoga.
 
Neuroplasticity is now commonplace in the treatment of stroke patients whereas only twenty years ago we thought that nothing could be done to regain use of limbs after a stroke. Now the results of neuroplasticity research are used with great success in post-stroke rehabilitation programs.
 
So, what’s this got to do with swimming you might say? It means that we can learn (or relearn) skills - such as learning to swim - at any age if we really want to; and allow ourselves to. Swimming instructors who appreciate this concept firstly teach the adult student to relax in the water and then take them though a process of structured repetitive activity in a stimulating environment. The brain thrives on stimulation and new challenges and exercise can often provide such an environment. That is why one of the best ways to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is by brain stimulation through exercise.
 
Some of my friends who are of much the same antiquity as I know that I get annoyed by such sayings as ‘I’m too old to learn’ or ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’. Absolute nonsense! Without wanting to embarrass them, I can point out a number of my students who have learned to swim into what we might call old age - whatever that means. So what do you have to do? The first step is the hardest and that is having the motivation to do it; and the next hardest part is making that first phone call. The rest is easy.
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This is the first in a series on how to make the transition from the pool to open water.
 
Many competent swimmers who have no difficulty swimming reasonable distances in the pool experience difficulty in the open water. But, whether the open water is smooth or rough, any difficulties are likely to be psychological. This is not to say that these difficulties are not real. They are real enough, but they tend to relate to issues of the mind, namely anxiety. Recognise that it is likely to be anxiety that prevents you from swimming in the open water and you are half-way there.
 
Anxiety-related issues related to OWS may include:
 
        ‘it’s a long way to swim’ (it’s probably no longer than one of your pool swims);
        ‘I can’t touch the bottom’ (no, but you can’t in the deep end of the pool either)
        ‘there is no wall to turn around on’ (that’s right, and it’s one of the great joys of OWS – you don’t have to turn around on a wall every 25 or 50 metres)
        ‘there is no black line to follow (another joy of OWS. See future issues for tips on ‘sighting’ to help you steer a straight(er) line)
        ‘I’m afraid of what’s down there; there are things that will eat me or at least sting me’ (if you heed the warnings contained in the article on sharks in this issue, your chances of being attacked by a shark are extremely rare. There will also be a future article on stingers. In any case, live a little on the wild side – the benefits are just wonderful!).
 
Hopefully, you will see that there is little rational argument for concerns about the open water whether it be the ocean, a lake or a river. Once you recognise that the major problem is anxiety, the trick is to relax, commune with nature and (as Dory said to Nemo) ‘just keep on swimming, that’s all you have to do’. Use OWS as a relaxation exercise, an exercise in developing patience (you just have to hang in there and eventually you will get to your destination); even as a meditation exercise and a sense of being at peace (more about that in later editions).
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