While doing my cool down swim after a run, it occurred to me that the under water sequence of my stroke reminded me of a drum beat. In high school, I was a pretty fair drummer. For drummers each “stroke” is important and if a beat is not hitting in the middle of the drum the sound varies and loses it’s impact. Unintentionally hitting or striking closer to the rim changes the steadiness of the sound and takes away from the music.

During a swim, my underwater part of the stroke feels like a drum beat in the middle of the drum. What is particularlily interesting is that I know that my hands are really not moving. My hands are catching or anchoring in the water. What is moving is my body rotating left and then right while slipping over the hands. Yet it still feels like a drum beat and moving hands, when in fact it is my body that is moving. Visually, swimming fools the mind’s eye.

Random thoughts

If there is wide acceptance that swimming is one of the best exercises as non-swimmers often tell me, then what has happened that more people are not in the pool?

Could open water swimming create an even greater environmental focus on river, lake and ocean waters clean enough to swim in without concern?

Is there a swim suit that keeps a swimmer warm? Not a wet suit, a swim suit. I don’t want to change buoyancy and I don’t want to pay wet suit prices unless it is absolutely necessary.