First Swim Lesson, No 911 Calls = Success

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? Okay, so here it is...

• My name is LoneStarCrank, and I'm a flailing, inefficient, 'butt dragging in the water' swimmer.

Ahhhhhh, that feels better. So now what? Tonight I took the first step to getting past the fact that I am a perennial back of the pack swimmer in serious need of some guidance. My swim instruction of choice -- Texas Iron. Don't let the name fool you...I felt little Iron in me tonight unless you count my arse dragging in the water as resembling Iron.

Week one was filled with pool etiquette, a few drills and simple analysis of our stroke. The funny thing about opening yourself up to critique is, it often times, produces immediate results. A few tips here and a minor adjustment there and my swim confidence was already starting to improve. I quickly realized that I wasn't the only poor soul flailing around in the water. There was strength in numbers.

Unlike many of my tri friends, I am not blessed with natural swim skills. I am a bit timid in the water and tend to take a survival tact. It is not unusual for me to be in the bottom 10 percent of my age group when I get out of the water. I then hit the bike (a much stronger leg for me) and have A LOT of ground to make up. My goal with this class is to get in the water more relaxed and, in the end, mitigate some of the hole I dig for myself in the swim portion of the race. I am shooting for an Olympic distance trinin May with the possibility of a Half Ironman in October. Like many others, the bike and run leg of the Half is within reach...it's the swim that gives me more than a few reservations.

So there it is -- one swim class, no drowning, and even a few improvements. In YMCA swim class terms I think I've graduated to being a guppy. Watch out tadpoles here I come.