That sounded easy: I already knew how to swim.

I was about to join their ranks, but I was woefully unprepared.

When I pushed off the wall to swim my first length, I began to sink.

How could I be more like her?

It helped, but it wasnt exactly what I needed.

This was also true.

But he didnt start at a basic enough level for me.

But some of us arent natural swimmers.

I had swimming lessons as a kid, and got some more instruction in my high school gym class.

A program calledTotal Immersionwas what turned the tables for me.

They start with learning how to float without sinking, and eventually build up to a fully functionalfreestyle stroke.

This method clicked for me in a way that nothing else did.

If you find yourself flailing, youre advised to go back and spend more time with the easy drills.

No system works for everybody, of course.

As with anything, feel free to shop around for whatever coach or program fits your style.

So maybe my body composition was to blame.

Or maybe I needed to kick more to keep my legs afloat.

But Total Immersion recasts the sinking issue as one ofbalance.

Take it from a chronic leg-sinker: this is actually true.

I was able to teach myselffrom a bookhow to float, something that my previous lessons never could.

And there is one.

I call it pressing your buoy.

Heres how it works.

What happens if you push a beach ball into the water?

The water pushes it right back out.

You have one place on your body thats buoyant like thatthe space between your armpits.

Call it your buoy.

Press your buoy into the water and the water will press back.

But keep pressure on that buoy and you force the water to push your hips up instead.

Just what you want.

Or as Laughlin writes: you open up a little hole in the water and slip through it.

The word masters is used in different ways in different sports.

In swimming, it just means adults, so you dont need to be an accomplished athlete to participate.

Its like swim team for grownups.

But you dont need prior experience, and masters clubs tend to be friendly to beginners.

The one I signed up with certainly was (and you canfind one near you here.)

And the beginnersincluding megot a session that was more instruction-focused.

I lucked out, too: the coach used the same drills and techniques Id been practicing.

So that was helpful too.

But just like running or any other sport, your workouts dont have to be the same every day.

you might always return to the Total Immersion drills, if you started with those like I did.

Its possible to spend most of your time on drills and still become a good swimmer.

(Laughlin quips: Fitness is something that happens to you while you practice good technique.)

But there are plenty of other options.

Any swimming or triathlon site will have tons of workouts to choose from.

For reference, most lap pools are either25 yards or 50 meters.

(If youre not sure, your pool is probably the 25 yard kind.

Fifty is huuuuge.)

Swimming competitions often have freestyle events where you are literally free to swim in any style you like.

The fastest stroke is front crawl, the one where youre face down and pulling with alternating arms.

All the swimmers Ive met refer to this motion as the freestyle stroke.

After that, you would do your four intervals of 50 yards, which means up and back.

Swimming workouts often give a certain amount of rest in each sethere, its 30 seconds.

The idea is to practice pacing yourself.

If you need more rest than that, it means you pushed yourself too hard.

Obviously, youll want to confirm the workout makes sense for your skill level.

I alsolearned to read the pace clock, or that giant stopwatch-looking thing on every pool deck.

I never mastered flip turns and I never got super fast.

Illustration by Sam Woolley.