Learning to Fly at Age 70

By GRANT HALL


Recently I had the opportunity to travel to New York from my home in Sooke on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to watch my favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, do battle with the Yankees, and to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. Between the Bronx and Cooperstown, I arranged for two lessons with Terry at the TI Swim Studio in New Paltz – one each devoted to Butterfly and Breaststroke. The weather was rainy but had no effect on our indoor sessions in the Endless Pools at the Studio.

First some personal history. I am what is known as a “senior,” a 70-year-old male, 5’ 10” and about 170 lbs. give or take. I took up distance running when I was about 35 and ran for 20 years, completing three marathons before I was advised to stop running because of an old football injury. A torn PCL made my right knee unstable and was wearing down the protective cartilage on both leg bones.

At the suggestion of a friend, at age 55 I took up swimming. At first I thought it would be boring but I quickly discovered that because swimming is so much more technical than running it offered limitless opportunity to learn and improve. I quickly got hooked. Despite having been a marathoner on land, I turned out to be a sprinter in the pool, placing well in my age group in Canada over short distances.

After about twelve years of swimming on my own or with groups, mainly for fitness I came across Terry and Total Immersion in the late, lamented “Rodale’s Fitness Swimmer” magazine and have since acquired every book and DVD TI has produced. Since aging up to the 70 –74 age bracket I have set many personal bests (PB’s) and hold one national Canadian record and four Provincial (British Columbia) records, in 100 and 200 meter free and 50 and 100 meter fly. These records are directly attributable to training the TI way, but without any hands-on coaching…which is why I decided to come to the Swim Studio in early June. I was pleased to see that the facility is kept very clean and tidy and the staff is welcoming and friendly.

The first day we worked on Butterfly for two hours. I have been able to swim fast enough to set a national record for 50 meters (38 sec), but – like many other swimmers – always suffered on the last 25 when attempting the 100 Fly. I had some initial nervousness because Terry had his daughter film the lesson, and because it was my first time in a continuous current pool. After a few minutes I was put at ease by Terry’s relaxed and assuring manner.

We were working on a new approach to Butterfly which Terry calls Comfort Fly or “Fly for Everyman.” After experiencing years of frustration with the stroke himself, he suddenly picked up several nuances he had never noticed before, while watching video of 200-meter world record holder Michael Phelps. Terry explained that over the course of two months last winter, he turned his observations into a new series of drills and focal points that allowed him to swim Fly so easily that he could complete 400 to 500 yards in 25-yard repeats with brief rest. Those felt so easy that he even swam a couple of 200s Fly for the first time in his life. Prior to discovering the Comfort Fly approach, he was worn out after a single 50 – and in fact had avoided the stroke almost entirely since turning 50 in 2001.

Terry led me through his new progression of drills. Two hours later, I surprised myself by being able to swim Fly in the current almost effortlessly for minutes on end. I have never been able to do that in the past. When I got home I swam 4 x 25-meter Fly with a brief rest between each. Though I was swimming effortlessly, the cumulative time was as fast as what I had previously swum while knocking my brains out. I now feel a 200-meter Fly is readily attainable and that I’ll finally be able to finish strongly – rather than survive – in the 100.

The next day we did a Breaststroke session. This is my worst stroke by far and I had a lot more difficulty in mastering the progressions. This was a truer test of the effectiveness of the teaching progressions as Terry was able overcome my difficulty and guide me to a successful result. My whip (Breaststroke) kick is very poor, yet as a Flyer my body dolphin is pretty good. So we worked on developing a short quick whip kick that made use of, and felt much like, my good body dolphin. I finally got the timing and felt better in Breaststroke than I ever have before.

The next day I watched as he gave another Masters swimmer – a recent medalist in the 55-59 age group at US Masters Nationals – a combined lesson in Backstroke and Freestyle. Terry applied the same step-by-step approach I’d experienced in the two “Short Axis” strokes. After two 90-minute sessions, this swimmer was moving with strikingly greater efficiency in both strokes.

Terry shared with me his vision of seeing TI Centers like this set up across the US and Canada and beyond. The combination of TI philosophy, Endless Pools and personalized instruction is a powerful resource that will enable many to enjoy the journey towards graceful, satisfying swimming. My three days in New Paltz brought home the point that personal coaching is invaluable as a way of learning the nuances that may escape us when we coach ourselves – and made me even more aware that swimming is a fascinating journey that should bring joy for life.

Grant Hall spent his first 30 years in Edmonton, Alberta, then moved to the Crowsnest Pass in southern Alberta in 1965. Grant and his wife Lora owned and operated a pharmacy for 29 years. Crowsnest Pass is just east of the continental divide at an elevation of 4400’ with a growing season of only 90 days. They sold the pharmacy in 1994 and moved to Vancouver Island in 2001. They have 10 acres overlooking the Strait of Juan DeFuca and a growing season of 240 days. Thus, when not swimming, they spend most of their time landscaping and gardening. Grant and Lora have three children and four grandchildren.

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