Texasguy
Contributor
My understanding that people who tend to swim fast and complain about it are the people who cannot float well. That is, if their momentum goes down, they start to sink. After a while, they "learn" that they must go forward or they would drown. Thus, they cannot stop and rest on the water, they frantically make it to the other shore or back non stop, because they CANNOT lower their speed (as in the move SPEED where a bus HAD to continue going).
Learning to float and slowly glide through water gives that ability to swim slowly because one can float and then simply propel.
I took a scuba class with my coworker, he was a definition of this. He could swim but he had absolutely no skills on floating. When we were at the lake, it was hard to swim with him between the scuba classes. He would swim really fast, make it to the other shore, then would spend 5 mins grasping for air because he went too fast. He just couldn't slow down, his legs would start to sink, he would start to trash on the same spot. Thus, for him it was either trashing on the same spot or trashing while having some speed to that. He passed floating by grabbing to the side of the pool with his hand stretched out... Whatever..
Thus, is it possible you have the same problem? Can you float for an extended time and not just on your back? I timed myself, I could float without moving much for 45 mins in fresh water (NOT floating on my back, tried on my stomach and being vertical with some really slow movements), after that I got tired and started to feel like being pulled down. Floating on one's back is too easy and probably can be done for hours on end. However, it is a learned skill requiring practice and many don't have it (ok, if you are fat, maybe less practice).
Learning to float and slowly glide through water gives that ability to swim slowly because one can float and then simply propel.
I took a scuba class with my coworker, he was a definition of this. He could swim but he had absolutely no skills on floating. When we were at the lake, it was hard to swim with him between the scuba classes. He would swim really fast, make it to the other shore, then would spend 5 mins grasping for air because he went too fast. He just couldn't slow down, his legs would start to sink, he would start to trash on the same spot. Thus, for him it was either trashing on the same spot or trashing while having some speed to that. He passed floating by grabbing to the side of the pool with his hand stretched out... Whatever..
Thus, is it possible you have the same problem? Can you float for an extended time and not just on your back? I timed myself, I could float without moving much for 45 mins in fresh water (NOT floating on my back, tried on my stomach and being vertical with some really slow movements), after that I got tired and started to feel like being pulled down. Floating on one's back is too easy and probably can be done for hours on end. However, it is a learned skill requiring practice and many don't have it (ok, if you are fat, maybe less practice).