Fitness Planner | Swimming: How to go from zero to 1km - Part 1

The more time you spend in water, the more you and your lungs get used to being and breathing in water. (Photo: Serena Repice via Unsplash)

Swimming is a low-impact, full-body workout that combines cardio and some aspects of strength-training, says Nisha Millet, former Olympics swimmer and founder of the Nisha Millet Swimming Academy.

Millet is well aware that there are plenty of roadblocks—practical, logistical and psychological—to people taking up swimming, but things are getting better in our cities in terms of access, infrastructure and coaches. And as for psychological problems, such as fear of water, Millet says they can be overcome with proper guidance and coaching.

Take for instance Anusha Ganesan, who was petrified of the water. As a consequence, she had a terrible time when she went to Bali and decided to celebrate her birthday by going diving. That’s when she decided she would learn how to swim. Shortly after returning to India, the Bengaluru-based 28-year-old consultant enrolled for swimming lessons at a swimming academy nearby.

“The first week was hell. I was terrified despite the coach being there and we were in the shallow pool. When I look back now, I find it really funny as there was no way I could have drowned in that shallow pool,” recalls Ganesan, who is now thinking of signing up for a 10km swim, which is similar to an ultramarathon.

Though about 70 percent of the earth is covered with water, most of us don’t grow up frolicking in water. As a result, even simple tasks like breathing or walking in chest deep water pose a huge challenge when we hit the pool for the first time.

The first couple of weeks are all about getting used to being in the water and learning how to breath in the water. This is also the time that you learn to stay calm when your head is submerged and then gradually start floating, kicking and breathing drills.

For the first few weeks, Ganesan spent a lot of time practising “bubble breathing”, where one inhales through the mouth while above the surface and exhales through the nose when submerged in water. Ganesan, who has a history of breathing problems, said gradually she got used to breathing in water and that seems to have helped keep her breathing ailment in check too.

All you need to do is stay focused, show up at the pool and trust the process.  However, don’t turn to others to measure your progress. That was one of the first lessons Ganesan received from her coach while in the swimming pool. “Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone has their own journey. This advise was really good and so was my coach. That’s one of the reasons I was able to learn the basics of swimming,” says Ganesan.

However, she still remained terrified to enter the deep end of the pool or open waters where she couldn’t gauge the depth of the waters. It was then that she reached out to Millet.

Millet, always eager to help someone who wants to overcome their fear of water, asked Ganesan to come for a session when her academy pools reopened after the pandemic-enforced lockdowns. “She literally handheld me and took me to the deep end. She explained to me how the simple physics of buoyancy comes into play and doesn’t let anyone stay submerged easily. Then she asked me to go touch the floor of the pool while she stayed near me. I did that and realised I bounce back up without even doing anything. She also gave me a few tricks to calm my nerves and that helped,” says Ganesan, who then enrolled for advanced lessons so that she could swim in deep as well as open waters.

“The first week was all about getting comfortable. A fear that one holds for most of their lives doesn’t go away in the blink of an eye. It took me at least a week to get comfortable in the deep pool. Just the fact that I was able to swim in the deep pool was exciting enough for me to keep going.”

The more time you spend in water, the more you and your lungs get used to being and breathing in water. Today, for someone who was once scared of entering a pool, Ganesan has had a complete 180 degree change and says, “Swimming is the best way to spend time in water.”

Also read: Fitness Planner | Swimming: How to go from zero to 1km: Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

Fitness planner: Free-style swimming plan - weeks 1 and 2