Swimming and why we need another competition pool
I love swimming! It offers a fantastic full body workout with little to no impact on bones and joints. Because of this, absolutely anybody can partake in water-based exercise. So there’s no excuse such as having a bum knee or needing a hip replacement to keep you from enjoying exercise in a pool.
And there are lots of pool-based exercise options to choose from locally. At the Kroc Center, there’s Masters Swimming, a Tri swim group and a dizzying variety of water aerobics classes with names like Aqua 360 Burn, Aqua Zumba, Hydromaniacs, Aqua Boot Camp, Hydrofighter and Cardio Blast, just to name a few. If group exercise is not your thing, you can also find an open swim lane to swim by yourself or walk against the current in the lazy river. My personal favorite is the Morning Tri Swim. It’s a great workout and sometimes my lane is almost entirely taken up by health care professionals. What could be better than doing timed 500s and also learning the finer points of bronchoscopy?
And that’s only what’s available at the Kroc Center. There are also pool-based exercise classes at other facilities such as SafeSplash/SwimLab, where they offer PiYoChi classes (a fusion of pilates, yoga and tai chi in the water). I stopped in there recently with my 14-year-old daughter, Nina, to try out their SwimLab, a tank with moving water that has mirrors and underwater cameras to allow 360 degree views and videotaping to improve technique along with their personalized coaching. I jumped in the tank first, and after being videotaped I was told that my hands are like two stop signs, slowing me down with each stroke as they enter the water at the wrong angle. Nina, who swims for CAST (Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team) got in next. As she started swimming the coaches just kept sighing, “Ah … yes” and “so … nice” as if they’d just taken a sip from the most delicious cup of coffee ever. In the end, we both got helpful feedback and drills to work on improving our efficiency in the water.
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