in(to) the swim

natalie coughlin (foreground) and katie hoff.

photographed by patrik giardino, for espn magazine.

via espn.com. published on july 29, 2008.

swimming is my new obsession. i plan to swim every day until my gym membership lapses at the end of this month.

the pool at my gym is a funny place. it's in the basement (not so surprising). but it's tiny--my guess is that four laps equal 1 olympic size pool lap, and it's only 3 - 5 feet deep. there are two lanes, each wide enough to accommodate two swimmers, presuming they can swim straight. there are 2 odd little outlets on one side of the pool where folks can hang out and "aquacise" while waiting. there is a pile of blue kickboards, water weights and belts, and those brightly colored "noodles" that people use to practice treading or running, or for horseplay. there is also a hot tub and a eucalyptus steam room, and i am highly suspicious of both. there are a few chairs, including some lounge-y ones, made of teak. it isn't uncommon to find someone taking a snooze on them.

the pool itself often empty when i go; otherwise, there are only one or two others swimming. i like the relative quiet--no speaking, no tv, no music. my mind is free to wander.

when i'm actually swimming, i'm pretty focused on things like breath and form--i count my kicks, think about shoulders (rotated) and fingertips (graceful) and abs (tucked).

in between the mercifully short laps, i take everything else in. there is always a lifeguard, looking bored. i wonder if they are allowed to read, because i think surely they cannot be expected to just sit there, looking at this lonely, shallow pool. but the two lifeguards that i have encountered don't read. one older man, who looks ashen and a little asthmatic, sits forlornly in a t- shirt, swim shorts and striped shower slides. occasionally he'll get up and very deliberately spray and wipe to a streak-free shine each of the nine, big round mirrors that surround the pool area (meant to evoke a cruise ship?). i admire his serious, patient approach to each one. and then there is a younger girl (not dressed in any sort of swimming or lifeguarding gear). she's pretty. she looks at herself in the mirror...she poses...checks her pores.

and then i check out the pool-goers. they tend to skew much older. there is one woman who wears a cap loosely over her wig, though i have never seen her in the water. there is another who swims with snorkeling gear. and there is an older man, who receives personal instruction from a coach who enters the pool area carrying a briefcase, wearing slacks and florsheim thayer mcneil leather shoes. he doesn't bother changing in the locker room.

but sometimes random "swimming" thoughts will come to mind:
will i be able to swim without my goggles?
what if the water were deep? the pool long?
how will i fare in the ocean?
could i save myself from drowning?
how much chlorine is safe to drink?

today, an entirely new one came to mind and it was so stunning, i actually said it out loud (there was no one else around): what if i tried to swim fast?
and then i remembered reading, never sacrifice form for speed. (clearly, advice for beginners.)
but i thought, why not try?
and so i did. i know i wasn't fast, but i was faster. and it felt pretty good, like sprints at the end of a run, you're winded but also energized. i did it five more times, free and back, and probably could have done it a few more. but it was 9pm.

and there's always tomorrow.

***
since i am still really a "beginner," i've been looking online for technique tips and drills to try.
i found this video featuring my favorite swimmer, natalie coughlin, but i must know a lot less about technique than i realized. i don't know what she's talking about! can anyone translate?

***

do you love the photo of natalie and katie as much as i do?

check out patrik giardino's website. stunning sports photography. the whole espn spread, "the olympics are for girls" is gorgeous. he's also done a lot of work with the company i used to work for, the publisher of men's health, best life, runner's world.

note: espn credits "patrick giardin" for this spread, but i'm guessing that is an error?

hom-age

natalie coughlin, photographed by marc hom, for men's vogue, april 2008.

i have "used" the obvious charms of some of my favorite female athletes (tanith belbin, ana ivanovic, maria kirilenko) to lure a couple of (now former) boyfriends, with less than zero interest in sports, into watching the olympics with me or joining me at the us open. shameless? perhaps. maybe even a little bit wrong. but it worked. i am actually a little proud that, after initially appealing to them on this most superficial level, the merits of these and other athletes and the thrill of sport-spectating left a lasting impression on one of them (maybe he doesn't watch figure skating anymore, but i know he follows tennis. and, most unbelievably, i managed to turn him into a baseball fan).

but if there were a need for me or anyone else to employ such a tactic again, i'm pretty confident that with si's 2009 swimsuit issue, we could turn a few disinterested heads toward the wta. the ladies know how to "represent": tatiana golovin, looking mighty comfortable as the bombshell; daniela hantuchova, revealing even more (i would argue) with her lovely, vulnerable gaze; and maria kirilenko, starring as the most adorable, enviably athletic girl-next-door. these might be the best tennis pictorials in si's swimsuit issues to date.

but i personally favor a different kind of swimsuit shot: the portrait of natalie coughlin by the danish photographer marc hom. it marries the classic with a sleek, modern look. i love that it is basically a three color affair, with terrific geometric repetition of right angles and triangles.
has a gal in one-piece ever been more devastating?

********
the coughlin shot, which appeared in men's vogue in april 2008, inspired a little research on marc hom.

if you've admired these esquire covers of angelina jolie, sienna miller, keira knightley, and johnny depp (and the march 2009 clive owen shot that's on newsstands now), then you're a fan of his work. and if you're like me and blessed with a fashion-obsessed sister/friend and you've been perusing her issues of harper's bazaar, black book and british vogue, then you know his fashion photography pretty well too.

take a quick scan through the marc hom galleries on the trish south management site, and you'll see a lot of bare legs, bare feet, and cool (very cool) scandinavian blue highlights.

his book, "portraits" is a collection of some 260 shots from a 12-year period, featuring celebrities like lauren bacall (who also penned the foreword), anouk aimée , christopher walken, martin scorsese, liv and steven tyler and many more.

here are a few black and whites that i found especially appealing:

rachel ward and bryan brown

juliette binoche (and friend)

a very pretty pink

bjork (little bare feet)

a bit more on marc hom, via a 2006 copenhagen exclusive article, here.

interested in natalie coughlin's book (published in 2006 by the company i work for)? you friends o' mine can borrow my copy, or buy it here.

laps of luxury

the outdoor pool. myrtle beach, sc. feb 12, 2009.

i'm back on the road again, this time in myrtle beach for the bi-lo marathon. as with my recent trip to miami, i am happily surprised to find i've got a little bit of "down time" (if only for a few more hours). unlike miami, there isn't much here that i'm inclined to run out to explore.

but there is the pool.

this morning, i put my suit and cap on, and my oh-so-glamorous tyr goggles, and spent an hour at the indoor pool (equal parts swimming and resting). i was alone. there was a giant tv begging to be turned on. but the sunlight was shimmering on the water and the silence was even more irresistible. the softly swishing water, and me. it was perfect.

my family (and friends who have known me a long time) would be rather amazed to find me swimming, because for a long time, i couldn't. i tried, but sank like a stone. it was so utterly unnatural to me to be in the water. for years, this was ok. but really, there are few things sadder than being on a beach or at a pool, and having to stay at the shallow end. nothing much fun happens in the shallow end.

last year, i decided it was time for a change. i enrolled in an adult swim class at a terrific facility on the upper east side, asphalt green. it was a beginner class, meeting twice a week. our instructor was a petite hispanic girl -- perhaps only 20 years old--with a grace and ease in the water that i hoped (beyond hope?) would rub off on me.

i should say that my mom was delighted but probably a bit annoyed that i had enrolled in a swim class, since when i was in the second grade, she invested the time and money in lessons for my sister and me at a good club in upper saddle river, nj (the "nice"part of nj). and the classes didn't take with either of us. in fact, i failed spectacularly! (that's a story for another day, over a beer, by the pool.) in my defense, i was at an age where i was old enough to be scared AND rebel at the notion of learning...but as with most things, when the time is right...

and it was finally right for me last year.

it only took a class or two for my teacher to realize that i wasn't a true beginner. we spoke about very specific things (why does my ass sink? should i be holding my breath here or not?) and it was great to have her point out small details about form (how in the backstroke, you shouldn't be jack-knifing your arm through the water, but sort of rotating your shoulder and then scooping and pushing the water away from you...how with freestyle you must think of elongating your stroke, dragging your fingertips across the water). i loved all the drills that she made us do. before long, she was applauding my form and i was doing the "demos" for the class. but there was still one thing i couldn't quite manage. relaxing.

i'd win the little races we had in class.
but i would be spent after one lap.
dizzy, even.
then i'd look over to the open lanes and see old men and women, lapping, flipping over, lapping some more, maybe 20 times.
how did they do it?

basically my teacher told me that i was kicking far too furiously. i needed to slow down. she gave me a few tips to think about, and counting drills to practice.
by the time the semester ended, i still had not mastered that idea.

but today, alone in the pool, it all sort of came together.
i could hear her instruction.
long, smooth breaths.
long, extended strokes.
slow, easy flutter kicks.
and i swam longer, and with more real peace and pleasure, than i ever have before.

i can't wait for more tomorrow.