Category: swimming

fitness · swimming

Drowning Prevention Week

Diane Harper

The Lifesaving Society’s National Drowning Prevention Week is July 20-26, 202.

It has been a bad year for drownings and water rescues in my part of Ontario: ten drownings so far, and I have lost count of the rescues that were sufficiently dramatic to make the news.

According to The Lifesaving Society, older adults are at highest risk of drowning, and that is the only group where numbers are increasing. Men and boys make up nearly 80% of the drowning victims. Indigenous peoples are at much higher risk, and drowning rates in the territories are about eight times higher than in the provinces.

What can we do? Lifesaving organizations have divided responsibilities to focus on different priorities: The Red Cross runs learn-to-swim programs on northern and Indigenous communities, while the Lifesaving Society teaches in the provinces.

Individually, we can wear lifejackets. Always when on a boat or SUP, and if you are not comfortable in the water. This one deserves its own paragraph!

We can support friends and family to ensure they take lessons (whether as cheerleaders, helping them navigate city programs to find suitable lessons, or assisting low-income people financially).

Recently, I bought a swim float for a friend who was feeling uncomfortable in open water but had resisted buying one. She now uses it every day, and her confidence (and endurance) is improving.

I also volunteered as a swim angel, swimming along with a participant at Bring on the Bay, a huge open water event in Ottawa. I have done it three times now and I love it!

Top: my friends and I at swim angel training, with our swim floats. Bottom: me with the three people I have been an angel for (Penny, Sarah and Irene)

World Drowning Prevention Day takes place on July 25. In honour of this global event, I’ll be wearing blue, using #DrowningPrevention on social media, and tagging the Lifesaving Society on social media.

Stay safe, everyone!

Overhead shot of gym stuff lined up on a towel: shower shoes, swim cap, goggles, swim suit, and running shoes. Photo by Tracy I Tracy rediscovers the Y in a new city
fitness · fitness classes · goals · swimming · weight lifting · yoga

Tracy rediscovers the Y in a new city

Tracy I2 Comments

A couple of months ago I moved back to Toronto after 33 years in London, Ontario. I last lived in Toronto when I was a Master’s student at U of T from 1987-88. Both I and the city have changed a lot since then. So I had nothing familiar as far as working goes to tap into when I got here in May. Not only that, but my routines had fallen to the side completely over the winter as I prepped for my move. And finally, it’s been a stinking hot summer, not a great time to get back into running.

So when a friend suggested that we try out the Y, which turns out to be just a 12-minute walk from where I live, it sounded like the perfect solution for so many reasons. Most notably, if we were going to join a gym, we wanted it to be a relaxed place with a truly inclusive vibe. The Y definitely ticks that box. It’s also convenient, has great equipment, lots of programming, and a 25m pool. We joined, and here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  • Aquafit — you can do this 45-minute class in shallow or deep water. So far, I’ve only signed up for shallow. I had a bit of a misconception about aquafit, I have to admit. I thought it would be easy and not feel like much of a workout. It turns out to be a good workout, very much more exerting than I anticipated, especially the part where you use the water dumbbells to create resistance. I’ve been using the blue ones, which are apparently easier than the yellow. I can’t imagine feeling ready for the yellow. But then that is the wonderful thing about resistance training — it makes you stronger.
  • MuscleFit — another 45-minute class, this time in the gym. Each participant gathers a mixture of light-medium and medium-heavy barbells and dumbbells for a guided full body workout. Again it’s a tough one, where the muscle fatigue is from high reps rather than heavy weights (even the “heavy” weights aren’t especially heavy). The first time I did it I overdid the barbell weights and had to lighten my load. I did better the second time, and have also learned over time that it’s okay to set the weights down and do body weight or take a break if needed. Will I keep doing that? Maybe on occasion but I also want to reintroduce resistance training on my own. The Y has lots of equipment in multiple different rooms and studios. So even when it’s busy it looks as if no one has to fight too hard to get the weights they need, and I remember enjoying the community atmosphere in the weight room.
  • Yoga — I haven’t found a hot yoga studio yet and will likely wait until the fall to do that, given the heat this summer. But I wanted to get back into a yoga class and it turns out that the Y has those too. I’ve gone a couple of times and had a good experience. Not the most challenging yoga or the most careful instruction, but it’s in a pleasant studio with loads of space, and as with anything, if you know what you’re doing you can make yoga as challenging or as unchallenging as you wish.
  • Lane swimming — I couldn’t be around a 25m pool for too many days without feeling tempted to get back to lane swimming. I did that this week for the first time, gathering up my gear from back in the day with the intention of doing 40 x 25m in 30 minutes. That would be a pretty slow pace and I didn’t quite make it. I started off with 10 x 25m of breast stroke, which took me to 10 minutes, then cut back from 20 to 15 x 25m freestyle, following by another 10 of breast stroke. It was a lot tougher than I expected it to be but now I have a benchmark and a goal. The goal is to get back to 40 x 25m by the end of the summer. I have no idea if that is realistic. I want to add drills and workouts to my lane swimming at some point. I remember enjoying that kind of training. Being in the pool again feels incredibly good.

As far as running goes, I’ve been out a few times and have reconnected with the “getting started” series of the Nike Run Club again. It’s been a sticky hot summer and I miss my running crew and my familiar routes. But if I can get back to 3x a week, I’ll be pleased with that.

Living in a large urban centre again means a lot more walking in my day to day than before. The traffic here is horrendous at unpredictable times, and if at all possible you want to avoid paying for parking. So much is easily accessible to me on foot, and though people complain about the transit, I adore the subway and live conveniently close to a few stations.

So that’s my report on establishing some fitness routines in a new city. As with anything, it can feel daunting at first. And the loss of community (in my case my running group and the hot yoga studio I frequented) is no small thing. But now that I’ve reconnected with the Y, it’s been an enjoyable experience that’s put me in touch with new and familiar activities in a relaxed atmosphere that offers a sense of community and belonging that I really like.

Overhead shot of gym stuff lined up on a towel: shower shoes, swim cap, goggles, swim suit, and running shoes. Photo by Tracy I
Image description: Overhead shot of gym stuff lined up on a towel: shower shoes, swim cap, goggles, swim suit, and running shoes. Photo by Tracy I

fitness · motivation · swimming

Finding Motivation When Your Triggers are Gone

Diane Harper

My main pool closed a month ago, and will stay closed until January. My other pool closed at the end of June. It will be closed until the fall, at least. That means no lifeguarding, no teaching swimming and no mandatory training where I need to ensure I meet the fitness standard. My swim club is also on hiatus for the summer.

What’s an externally -motivated girl to do?

Rest was a good start. I “allowed” myself several weeks of not swimming. By allowed, what I really mean is I didn’t bother looking up lane swim times at nearby pools. I felt guilty about not going but just couldn’t get myself organized. Hence the air quotes around “allowed”.

Then I started getting messages about people I knew going for swims. I decided that I would see each of them as an invitation and join if at all possible. So far this week, that has meant one pool swim, one swim in Gatineau Park, and one at the nearby lake. I’m already far ahead of where I was in June, distance-wise.

I’ll be a swim angel again this year for the annuals Bring On the Bay swim, so there will be more swimming this week to ensure I’m ready to support my swimmer on Saturday.

Going forward, I’m keen to try out some new swimming venues around town. I know I’m more likely to do so if I go with friends. For the next little while, my challenge will be to make some of those plans and follow through, even if others don’t have the time or interest to join me.

But also, if I don’t feel up to swimming, won’t. As much as I am motivated by peer pressure (in a good way), swimming when I’m overtired is not fun.

Wish me luck finding the right balance and checking out some new places to swim!

Three swimmers with bright floats in the small lake near my house in Ottawa.,
What’s Ai Chi? Delete the initial T(ai Chi) and add water
fitness · martial arts · swimming

What’s Ai Chi? Delete the initial T(ai Chi) and add water

catherine w1 Comment

I get a real kick out of portmanteau words. Spork, hangry, staycation, and maybe the best/silliest one I know– turducken– they all convey a humorous approach to efficiency and multitasking in meaning.

We smush words together all over the place, with food and technology terms especially (think cronut and webinar), but also with sports and physical activity. Here are some I found online, of which several the FIFI bloggers have written about or tried for ourselves:

  • Yogalates (yoga plus Pilates)
  • Broga (a combo of yoga and calisthenics exercises, with gender stereotype marketing– yuck)
  • Yinki yoga (yin yoga plus reiki)
  • Jazzercise (an oldie but a goodie)
  • Hyrox (a newish one; Sam wrote about it here; it stands for “Hybrid Rockstar”)
  • Acroyoga (acrobatic yoga, see pic below)
  • Doga (according to Wikipedia, a variant of yoga done with dogs, or for people, or for dogs)
Smiling while lifting those bags? They can't be doing it right.
Smiling while lifting those bags? They can’t be doing it right.
Two folks in acrobatic yoga pose.
Two folks in acrobatic yoga pose.
AI dog in Sukhasana, easy pose.
AI dog in Sukhasana, easy pose.

But how many of you have heard of/participated in Ai Chi? Not me, until now.

Ai Chi refers to Tai Chi– gentle but powerful low-impact martial arts exercises– done in the water, generally a pool. One site explains it this way, focusing on benefits for older people:

Ai Chi, a modified, water-based form of Tai Chi, integrates slow, deliberate movements with deep breathing in a physical activity performed in shoulder-deep heated water. Developed to promote relaxation, it builds full-body strength and challenges balance in ways that typical strength training does not.

Unlike lifting weights or other exercises on solid ground, Ai Chi harnesses the natural resistance of water while buoyancy reduces joint strain.

The practice begins with uncomplicated arm and breathing exercises that gradually progress to coordinated, full-body movements. As participants alternate between narrow and wide stances, they continuously test their stability.

When I did a deeper Google dive into Ai Chi classes, I found a variety of different types of Ai Chi-ish workouts. Some look like aquatic therapy classes (done at rehab places for people recovering from surgery or injuries or managing medical limitations). Others are aquatic personal training that combine gentle water exercise with massage. Then there are the regular Ai Chi classes at places like your local YMCA. Mine offers them.

People in a pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.
People in a pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.
People in a different pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.
People in a different pool, ai-chi-ing with arms out.
Ai-Chi diagram of walking in water exercises.
Ai-Chi diagram of walking in water exercises.

The list of benefits that AI Chi-ing confers is very long. So is the list of conditions for which Ai-Chi is purportedly helpful. You can find them here.

One more thing about Ai Chi: according to one Ai Chi blogger, Tai Chi makes dogs more aggressive, but Ai Chi calms them. They cited one Ai Chi class that also soothed a nearby duck and blue heron. Imagine how it might chill us out…

Honestly, Ai Chi seems like a nice variant on Tai Chi movements and also a low-key alternative to water aerobics to make it tempting to try. I will report back if/when I take my Tai Chi to the pool, strip off the T, and add water.

Hey readers– have you tried Ai Chi? Do you like it? How does it compare to its dry land sibling? I’d love to hear from you.

clothing · fitness · swimming

Advantages and Disadvantages of Two-Piece Swimsuits

Diane Harper2 Comments

Following up on my post about swim shorts, I wore my new suit to work. I haven’t tried swimming in it. Already, I have discovered some good and bad things about my two-piece bathing suit.

The disadvantages are well-known but some to the advantages are new to me. My goal is to learn to ignore the disadvantages (aka get over my own body image hangups), and learn to embrace the advantages. I may need to buy more suits to help with my continuing quest for excellent swim gear.

Advantages:

  1. It is possible to buy tops and bottoms in the size you need. This is probably self-evident to most people, but I only figured it out when my most recent suit arrived and I realized I might have gotten away with a bottom that is one size smaller;
  2. I can mix and match suits, at least in theory. My matchy matchy brain is still trying to wrap my brain around that one, but I admire people like my daughter, who does it all the time.;
  3. When I’m lifeguarding, I don’t need to strip out of my lifeguard pinny and take off a one-piece to go to the bathroom;
  4. If I forget my underwear, I can wear the top as a sports bra. Going commando to go home is usually just fine, but I hate going out in public without some sort of breast support.

Disadvantages:

  1. That “sports bra” is wet. I often do errands on the way home so my shirt ends up wet. If I go straight home, then I have to take off a wet sports bra. Wet sports bra removal should be an Olympic sport;
  2. I have yet to find a bathing suit top that doesn’t give me uniboob. Every promising one I have looked at so far has an underwire and that’s a hard no for me. I don’t mind being squashed while in the water because it helps me be streamlined. But it’s hot and sweaty out of the water;
  3. If the top doesn’t give me underboob it’s because it has ruffles, ruching, bow tie, baggy matching bottoms, or some other thing that adds drag when I’m trying to swim.
  4. I’m still coming to terms with exposing my less-than-perfect belly.

I still dream of finding a great two-piece training suit that fits my slightly-larger-than average body but I’m beginning to think it’s a unicorn. In fact, it’s so rare I couldn’t find a good image of a unicorn wearing a bathing suit so you will need to settle for this unicorn on a bathing suit.

Image is a bathing suit decorated with The Unicorn in Captivity, one of the Unicorn Tapestries. The suit is for sale on Etsy.
celebration · fitness · fun · self care · swimming · vacation

Not-very-wordy Wednesday: manatees are here to save your day

catherine w

When things are looking dire, one thing we can do is strive to find solace in what’s in front of us. What was in front of me today was a big collection of manatee stickers, given to me by my friend Gal after our legendary (in our minds, at least) trip to go swim with the manatees in Crystal River, Florida. In case you missed it, here are some posts I wrote about them:

Six things I’ve learned about manatees

Catherine’s manatee-intensive vacation: the director’s cut

It was so awesome that Gal and I are planning a return trip next December or January, with various others.

But in the meantime, we have to find things to do while we are waiting. One of them for me has been to put my manatee stickers to good use.

A creatively-colored orange-pink-and-yellow-patterned manatee on my red water bottle.
A creatively-colored orange-pink-and-yellow-patterned manatee on my red water bottle.

I’ve also selected these stickers for application to my laptop; they depict manatees engaged in activities that make us all happy– playing music, drinking boba tea (or your beverage of choice), and looking fabulous.

Manatees playing bassoon, drinking boba tea, and rocking a boa and great glasses.
Manatees playing bassoon, drinking boba tea, and rocking a boa and great glasses.

Of course, manatees also model how we sometimes need alone time, and sometimes can use a friend.

Two manatees enjoying the prospect of tasty greens, and one just enjoying their own company.
Two manatees enjoying the prospect of tasty greens, and one just enjoying their own company.

My favorite I saved for last: on my pill box is a manatee doing one of my favorite things: riding a bike. Say no more.

A happy manatee riding their bike.
A happy manatee riding their bike.

Manatees got us, in good times and in bad. I’ll leave you with this proof: a manatee who’s got the whole world in its flippers.

It’s got the whole world… in its hands/flippers.

Have a lovely afternoon, dear readers.

woman teaching a child on how to swim A response to Diane’s post: “Swimming skills equity”
swimming

A response to Diane’s post: “Swimming skills equity”

Sam B

Hello!

Another lifeguard chiming in to add to Diane’s post this morning. My name is Mallory and I have been certified as lifeguard for more than fifteen years now but this is my first year consistently working during the day which means a whole new set of programs: Aquafit, water walking, lane swims, parent and tot swims and the occasional rental group.

Diane wrote about her experience teaching the Lifesaving Society Swim to Survive program. This is one of the programs we run at my pool and I currently have four classes each week with new classes starting every three weeks. So I’ve seen a lot of grade three classes this year!

The goal of the program is to equip students with the basic survival skills to survive an unexpected fall into water: falling into water without becoming disoriented, treading or floating in one spot for one minute followed by swimming 50m. In real life, this translates into three steps: (1) don’t panic, (2) look for safety and (3) swim to safety.

We have such a wide variety of swimming skills, everything from students who have never stepped foot in a swimming pool (and sometimes don’t even own a bathing suit!) to students who have completed swimming lessons and can comfortably swim laps without any issues.

On the first day we divide students into three groups based on prior swimming skills. Beginner group is students who have never been in the pool or aren’t able to do any swimming independently. Intermediate group is students who are comfortable in the water, can swim a short distance but would not pass our facilities swim test to go in deep water without a lifejacket. Advanced group is anyone who would pass our facility swim test which is a 20m swim without touching the bottom or struggling. In a typical class, we usually have a percentage split of 40:40:20 meaning that 80% of our students are completing the Swim to Survive standard in a lifejacket or PFD. 

In other words, 80% of students would not survive an unexpected fall into deep water unless they were already wearing a PFD or had someone nearby with rescue skills.

While the Swim to Survive program is an excellent start, it simply isn’t enough. A group of 20-30 children coming into the pool for three one-hour lessons with three lifeguards simply isn’t enough to teach them the survival skills they need.

So why do we do it? What can we realistically accomplish in this time?

  1. It’s a potential entry point for future learning. Many of our students have never been to our pool or often to any pool. After their last class, we send home handouts with each student about recreational swim times and swimming lessons. In schools where we know there are economic barriers, we also send home information about subsidies available for these programs.
  2. Skill Building: While we don’t have enough time to teach someone how to swim, we do have time to teach certain lifesaving skills such as how to float on your back and call for help or how to kick your legs to help you move in the water.
  3. Knowledge Building: We also build a lot of knowledge into the program. Simple things such as how to put on a lifejacket or know if it fits you properly or how to safely jump into the water. We also put a large emphasis on wearing lifejackets when we know we are going to be near water, such as anytime we are on a boat or a dock.
  4. Don’t Panic! For beginner swimmers, this is the most important skill they are going to learn. Wearing a PFD, being able to independently enter deep water and float without panicking is often as far as they can get in this program and that alone can be a lifesaving skill!
a boy wearing googles
Photo by Raj Pannu on Pexels.com

equality · fitness · swimming

Swimming skills equity

Diane Harper

I have a new gig teaching a class of swim-to survive-students. It is offered by a local school board to third graders in at least some of their schools. The program recently restarted after being stopped during the COVID lockdowns.

Students get three one-hour lessons. There are about 12 kids per instructor. That’s a very high ratio to supervise. My regular learn to swim classes have between five and eight students, depending on the age and skills.

My group all needs lifejackets because none can swim even half a length of the pool. Some of them are afraid to put their faces in the water.

It’s not enough! We live in a country with a lot of lakes and rivers. Even if these kids never leave the city, there are plenty of opportunities to get into trouble in one of our rivers or ponds, or the canal. Many of these kids are newer immigrants, or from low-income families. Private swimming lessons may not be an option for them.

I’m happy I can give these kids the basics of a few survival skills, but what happens if they don’t have access to a lifejacket except during these lessons?

I feel like we are failing these students, as we have failed to provide equitable access and opportunities for water safety and sport so many poor and visible minority kids for generations.

Three children in red lifejackets in a swimming pool. Adobe stock photo.
fitness · swimming

Facing an old fear and getting back in the big waves

Sam B1 Comment

In December 2007, just over 17 years ago,  I hurt myself pretty badly while on sabbatical in Australia. The whole family, including Jeff’s sister Susan who was visiting, were staying at a colleague’s cottage in Milton and enjoying a day at Mollymook Beach. Everyone, kids and adults, were playing and splashing in the waves. A fun day.

Suddenly, a very big wave appeared out of nowhere. It basically picked me up and threw me on the beach. I can’t describe it any other way. I couldn’t have done anything to make it end differently.

I passed out when I landed and I was in so much pain I was certain I’d broken my hip. Family took me to the emergency room. Nothing was broken, as it turned out. It was all soft tissue injury. It took me weeks to recover. For a few years after, my back wasn’t the same and I kept having back injuries. Needless to say, I’ve taken waves much more seriously ever since.

At the time it was all overshadowed by a much more dramatic event that happened that same weekend–Jeff’s more serious health issue,  a spider bite that caused his arm to swell up dramatically. Oh,  Australia.

Unlike me he was admitted to emerg and then ICU (yes, same hospital that I’d been to earlier in the day) and then spent days in hospital on IV antibiotics recovering, testing out the limits of our university travel insurance.

Okay, we’re both fine now. Maybe he’s more nervous about spiders. I’m definitely more nervous about playing in the surf. I’ve been in the ocean since, maybe once or twice, but only when it’s been calm.

Here’s where on the Australian coast it all went down.

Staying out of the surf has been easy in southwestern Ontario. I haven’t had to think about it really.  There are lots of lakes but no nearby oceans. I’ve visited the ocean in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia but it’s so cold there I’ve had zero temptation to get in.

I did love watching the surfers at Lawrencetown beach in Nova Scotia where some people actually surf year round. Brrrr!

Now here I am in Dunedin, New Zealand, living in the neighbourhood of St. Clair, one block from the beach. St. Clair beach is a good beach for surfing, lots of big waves. I love watching the beach. On a good day there’s dozens of surfers, My favourite is watching the kids and teens doing their surf lifesaving training in the evening. They wear wetsuits and confidently swim out through the waves. Sometimes they take boards and race back. I’m impressed!

Between the big waves and the cold water though–not to mention the shark warning bell!–I haven’t been that tempted to go in myself. Yes, to the hot salt water swimming pool but no to the ocean. But last weekend we had family from Australia visit, my cousin Greg and his wife, Jo. And we had an extra warm day. Also, the waves weren’t that big, and lifeguards were on duty between the flags. All the stars had lined up just right, and I happily went back into the waves.

Shark bell!
The salt water pool

Here we are! Yes, the waves knocked me off my feet once or twice. You can see from our faces below that we look plenty happy though. I think I’ve gotten over my fear of waves. Thanks all!

Thanks Greg for the photo. I’m in the middle, Jo on the left and Sarah on the right. (I’m going to nag Jo into writing about CrossFit sometime I hope.)

Jo, Sam,  and Sarah
St. Clair beach
The pool in the distance

A coral reef in blue water in the FLorida keys, with a diver in the background. The wonders underwater: thinking about scuba (again)
fitness · swimming · vacation

The wonders underwater: thinking about scuba (again)

catherine w

Last weekend, I enjoyed some quality time swimming with and marveling at manatees in Florida. I gushed about it in not one, but two blog posts, here and here. Seeing these strange, sweet and enormous creatures underwater reminded me of how much I love aquatic environments.

Almost ten years ago, I had the most magical experience underwater, scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Exploring that quiet blue world and all its inhabitants, meeting up with sea turtles, fishes of every color, and even giant clams a meter in length gave me a deep sense of appreciation and wonder for our world.

Now, in 2025, I am in sore need of some wonder and appreciation for our world. You can relate, I’m sure.

So, I’m thinking about returning to scuba diving. I’ll need to get myself PADI certified; my last scuba course was 9 years ago and I didn’t end up finishing my open-water dives due to bad weather in Puerto Rico.

Scuba certification, for those who don’t know about this, requires three steps:

  • classroom or online course
  • pool skills course
  • open-water certification dives

The first two I can do here in the Boston area. The open-water part can be done off the New England coast as well, but I really want to go to a warm blue ocean environment for my open-water certification dives. I’m thinking about the Florida Keys or somewhere in the Caribbean.

So, now I get to do one of my other favorite activities: adventure travel planning! I’ll keep you posted.

I'm pretty sure I was a travel agent in a previous life.
I’m pretty sure I was a travel agent in a previous life.

Dear readers, if you have suggestions about lovely places to dive for a beginner, please do let me know. I’d welcome any comments about your experiences.