The Art of Crawl

So I wrote a piece last week about how, once again, near I am to mastering the dark art of front crawl.
I’m still really enjoying the swimming lessons, my arm and leg technique has been applauded by my coach – we’re now even trying to implement in a slight rotation into my repertoire. However, my breathing is still letting me down. Maybe I’m thinking about it too much and need to get more Zen and properly focus and relax to make that full length of the pool.

Part of the reason for trying rotation was that I chanced upon an article in yesterdays Guardian advocating how to improve your front crawl – there’s a whole series on improving your swimming technique as apparently as a nation we’re doing it wrong and not reaping the benefits of our time in the pool! Sam Murphy, who usually gives great advice about running, wrote this article on front crawl and this superb one page PDF that offers a great starting point for anyone like me. In the article she also references a great website called ‘The Art of Swimming’ which shows these easy to follow tips on front crawl as well.

Hope these help you if you’re interested. If you can advise further on catching a bigger breath between strokes, I’d be keen to hear. I’m almost there, making a point of slowly breathing out underwater but still am gasping a bit/struggling to take in breath when I come up for air!

Energy at the North Pole?

After I'd mentioned that it was great that there looked to be a renewable solution to European and World energy needs , I listened in horror to Radio 4 last night about potential oil and gas prospecting that is shortly to be afoot at the North Pole.

According to the programme, as the ice pack there recedes, it opens up a passage to huge oil and gas reserves. There is somewhere in the region of 3 years worth of fuel to power all the Worlds current energy needs at the fingertips of whomever gets there. It sounds a lot but given the increasing usage of resources globally, that really isn’t that long despite the figures quoted in terms of billions of barrels. The Russians, as this article shows, planted their flag underwater last year to claim rights to the territory and thus the reserves; the Norwegians naturally lay claim to it and a number of other nations, the US included, are all scrabbling to do the same in time for when prospecting can get seriously underway.

Given current concerns about the ever decreasing amount of fossil fuels; the effect of those used so far by mankind and the potential catastrophe and difficulty in clearing up any large oil spill would cause in this part of the world, it seems to me and surely most sane thinking people, a barking idea to go an exploit yet more of our natural resources?

I think this statement from Pen Hadlow sums up my feelings and frustrations on the matter:"There is a terrible irony that the very thing that is driving climate change and the recession of the sea ice, the combustion of oil and natural gas and coal, is the very thing that they are looking to extract from the sea bed." If we can’t see that clearly now, whilst financial profit gets put before long term sustainability and the environmental damage caused, we’re narrower focused than I thought possible.

Desert energy?

I read this interesting story on a possible massive solar panel farm in the Sahara desert, almost the size of Wales that could power all of Europe’s energy needs in the future. Southern Spain & Portugal already provide their citizens above average levels of solar derived energy and this seems a great renewable way of powering the continent. This will be an interesting one to watch. The article goes on to propose a potential European HV super grid combining electric delivered over high voltage direct current so that different countries could export and trade energy more efficiently than the current AC system. Whether the political will to implement such a scheme would go beyond Sarkozy and Browns current tacit backing for the idea, we'll have to see.

Splish splash

So as well as running I now have been doing 4 weeks of swimming as part of my fitness regime. Partly vanity so I can look like I know what I'm doing with my front crawl but mainly because I love swimming and want to complete 25 or 30 lengths every week. My friend Catherine has been putting me through my paces in our local lido. At first I was very nervous about the technique I was trying to recall from 20 years previous. But we've ironed out the creases and I've learnt a more efficient way to cut through the water, elbows raised first out of the water and index finger plunging in using my hands almost like a flipper!

Week by week I can see and feel the improvement but I'm let down by one thing, and that’s my breathing. I'm tending to find I can do half a length of the pool but then I'm not taking in enough oxygen on my breaths when I turn my head. Otherwise I'm fine, and can feel it all come together so that my strokes happen naturally, like all the different processes you need to take on board when learning to drive. I just need to get the co-ordination of breathing right then I can gracefully go up and down and the lido like a (semi) pro!

Most importantly I'm enjoying going each week and feeling myself improve bit by bit. I can't wait for the moment I complete a full length using all the skills I've been working at, but then I believe that’s the point of learning and setting goals to help you improve at whatever you turn your hand to. Trying to learn a new (or forgotten) skill regardless of whether you get it correct each time.

Sometimes you luck out in life but mainly I find skills wise you improve by hitting various breakthrough moments, then putting all the different skills you’ve learned together. The most frustrating thing about this endeavour is that I am re-learning something that I used to take for granted as a kid! If only I could tap into that part of my brain and do it automatically!

Up, up and away!

So today marks the last full day my dear folks will be living in the UK. They've sold up and bought a place in the sun and opted to retire to Alicante in Southern Spain. Luckily for them they've negated the credit crunch and sold their house here as seemingly the amount of buyers drys up.

The removal men have come and are taking away all the bits and pieces from their combined 62 years of living and moving it to mainland Europe. Its no different time wise to get there than it does currently in the UK but this move does feel different. Me and my bro are left on the island whilst they'll be on the big land mass, learning a new language, way of life and culture. I did feel a bit sorry for myself but I can't blather on, as a friend pointed out, some folk don't have their parents around to spend time with. And we get the benefit of trekking to the sun to enjoy their company!

So best foot forward, good luck to them and a big pat on the back for having the courage to go and do something new and adventurous! I guess its weird to think its them moving and not us. But they'll survive and I look forward to going over, seeing them, running in the lovely surroundings such as San Juan Beach and catching up in the not too distant future.