Misty goggles

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swimming

I demisted my goggles and pushed off from the side of the pool, enjoying the feeling of gliding effortlessly through the water. Now that the weather's much milder, the idea of going for a swim is much more appealing and so I went to try out my local pool this morning. I've always found front crawl quite tricky and I actually didn't use to be able to do it all - I'd end up completely knackered, flailing away and spluttering. About a year ago, a swimming coach noticed that I was mixing strokes and although my arms were more or less ok, my legs seemed to be trying to do breaststroke!  She told me to keep them straight and to  kick from the hip. I've been trying to improve my technique since then and now I go to and fro alternating.....

front crawl      breaststroke    front crawl     breaststroke    front crawl     breaststroke

..... until I've done about 30 lengths and then I climb out, wash off the chlorine, dry myself off and head off home.

 

Glossary

to demist (verb)

To remove the condensation from something

to push off (phrasal verb)

To move away from somewhere

to glide (verb)

 To move smoothly and easily

effortlessly (adverb)

Easily, without having to try

milder  (adj.)

 If the weather is milder, it is warmer

appealing  (adj.)

Something that is interesting and attractive

front crawl (noun)

A type of swimming in which bring each arm over

your head in turn while on your front

knackered (adj.)

Very tired

to flail away (phrasal verb)

To move your arms and legs in an uncontrolled way

to splutter (verb)

To make noises because you cannot breathe properly

a stroke (noun)

A style of swimming

breaststroke (noun)

A way of swimming in which you move forward by

stretching out your arms and legs and then bringing them in - like a frog.

hip (noun)

The bone on each side of your body below your    waist

to and fro (adverb)

Backwards and forwards

a length (noun)

From one end of a swimming pool to the other

wash off  (phrasal verb)

To wash something so that it has completely gone

chlorine (noun)

The chemical used in swimming pools to keep the water clean

to dry off (phrasal verb)

To dry something until all the water has gone