Pull Breath, Kick Glide

Pull Breath, Kick Glide. These are the voyages of the 3 degree mandatory swim class. our 8 lesson mission.... to swim lots of laps while a bunch of stubborn swim coaches yell at us repeatedly.  They keep telling me that I can swim faster, but they have yet to prove it to me.

It's a frigid morning. I had hoped to sleep in, but it's my swim go, so I go down to the pool.  I form up in my swimsuit and salute a shirtless lieutenant and say "class reports ready to learn". He responds with "ready to swim". I concede that my terminology will never please AD, I plunge into the water, and immediately my acorns become sesame seeds.  Fortunately, this makes me more streamlined for swimming.  I remark at the lack of shirtless women, only dudes, and then I plunge my gorgeous face into the water.

We begin every class with the 250 meter swim.  It's an amazing opportunity for me to show my teacher that I am not part of any gilled species and there is a reason that we are in the AIR force.  After we proceed to learn and practice the legendary, "life-saving" efficiency strokes.  There are three.  The breathstroke, the elementary backstroke, and the sidestroke.

The breathstroke is a very well known swim maneuver.  The shirtless lieutenant proceeds to demonstrate the moves for the class.  First, he pulls his arms through the water.  Then he breathes as his head breaks the surface of the mini chlorine infected ocean.  Next he kicks his legs in the fashion of a whip kick, and proceeds to end the sequence with a steady glide.  Hence, the 'pull, breathe, kick, glide' was brought to life.  The elementary backstroke is pretty much the same except upside down.  The objective is to drown you while you can still see the light of day above the water.  The sidestroke is again meant to deprive you of comfort and air while you attempt to streamline on your side while your body disobeys and sinks, your ears fill with water, and the living water attempts to take your beating heart once again.

Swim class at the University of the Sciences And the Fine Arts (USAFA) is no joke.  AD takes this course very seriously, just like everything else.  I hope to improve the efficiency of my newly-forming gills and use them to support the greater good of mankind.

I'm excited for the opportunity to increase my warrior ethos through the next USAFA aquatics class I will take called Water Haze.  Check back soon for another aquatic adventure of just 'nother cadet.

Thanks for reading, if you're actually reading this for some odd reason.

Much love.

-Just'nothercadet