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Stroke by Stroke
by Fiona Cohen

When Louise Zamparutti climbs into a pool, her first feeling is a sense of freedom. It’s always been that way, ever since the 41-year-old health and wellness director of the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA learned to swim.

She taught herself to swim at the age of 16, when she was taking her mother, a cancer patient, to the pool for exercise. Looking back, Zamparutti says she should have taken lessons, but she still enjoyed herself and picked up enough skill to become a triathlete in college.

In 2001, swimming became even more important to her. A drunk driver hit her while she was riding her bike to school, leaving her with a broken pelvis. She ended up having a hip replaced. It was a year and a half before she could walk and four years before she could get back to normal activity. But she swam a mile or two a day.

“When I was injured or in pain or couldn’t move, I’d get in the pool and I’d move. I would feel freedom.”

These days, the pool gives her an escape from the office. “It’s a great way to relax and decompress.”

What makes swimming good for you?

First of all, it’s exercise. Like running or cycling, swimming burns calories, builds muscles and lifts moods. Unlike many other sports, it works muscles all over the body. You don’t end up with the spindly arms of a cyclist or the top-heavy build of a kayaker.

Because the water supports body weight, joints don’t suffer as much. If you’re overweight or recovering from an injury, swimming can work your body while sparing your knees and hips. If you’re pregnant, swimming can give you a break from hauling around your belly.

“I would say anyone who has any kind of limited mobility, find a way to get into the pool and get some movement going on there,” says Zamparutti.

Swimming is so good for some heath problems that people do it as part of their treatment plan. Kathleen Perez-Hureaux, chronic care manager at Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers, says that people with chronic diseases do better when they exercise, and for some diseases, swimming is the best thing. Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers and other clinics prescribe swimming workouts to arthritic patients, people with asthma and people suffering from nerve damage from diabetes. Rainier Beach Pool offers a class designed by the Arthritis Foundation. To register, participants need a doctor’s note.

Swimming is good for those with asthma because swimming builds lungs. Physiologists have found that swimming training increases lung capacity in adults and children.

Perez-Hureaux says doctors can see the effects of swimming on patients’ lab results and other health assessments. Plus, the patients are happier.

“You feel better after being in the pool. It helps their mood a lot,” she says.

It can even help with phobias. “Anyone who’s afraid of the water, take some swimming lessons, because that’s a great way to get over being afraid of the water,” Zamparutti says.

All this, plus you don’t need to go out in the rain or join a fancy health club. But swimming’s popularity is limited: Only around 12,000 adults use Seattle’s public pools each year.

Self-consciousness keeps some people out of the water, says Perez-Hureaux.

“People are shy about what their bodies look like, but nobody sees you except for the head,” she says.

Others avoid the pool out of religious beliefs. Some Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities believe that women and men should not swim together, and that women should cover their bodies. So a variety of public pools around Seattle have occasional women-only swims.

Probably the biggest barrier for most is skill. Swimming is not like running or walking. You don’t just put on your shoes and head out the door. Before you go swimming, you first have to learn how to move in the water, and then how to move well.

“Swimming is 90 percent technique,” says Matt Richardson, assistant aquatic center coordinator at the Southwest Pool. “The best swimmers swimming as slowly as possible can easily overtake a person thrashing. Body efficiency and streamlining are going to be critical.”

The quickest way to pick up these techniques is to take lessons. Richardson says that anyone taking up a new swimming regimen should consider lessons, whether they’re beginners or are returning to the sport. “Any time you take ten years off from a sport it’s always good to work with an instructor to get tuned up.”

Too many people make the mistake of starting too quickly, he says.

“Going gung ho is the way to burn yourself out of it. Start off easy and build a routine. I wouldn’t run a marathon on the first day of running.”

What kind of routine you build depends on you.

“Folks can swim the speed they feel comfortable at and challenge themselves incrementally as they get stronger,” Richardson says.

It’s just after 7 a.m. on a sodden October Tuesday, though the three clocks around the pool disagree as to exactly what time it is. For the dozen swimmers churning their way up and down the pool’s six lanes, time is connected to distance. Their coach, Emily Weber, writes out instructions on a pair of whiteboards. “1 x 500 (400) all FR swim or pull every 4th length OTF.” For those who don’t speak or read swimming, that translates to: “Swim 500 (or 400) yards. If you like, you can hold a piece of foam between your legs for buoyancy. For three out of four laps, do front crawl, for one out of four laps, do something else.” When they finish the lengths, Weber gives them more until an hour (or so) is up.

This is the novice masters swimming group at Seattle University. Most of those here are new to swim training, and aren’t ready for Weber’s regular master’s workout, which starts an hour earlier. Weber also coaches the regular master’s team and the Garfield High School swim team, groups full of fast, expert swimmers. This group includes people who don’t yet have the skills to comfortably swim the butterfly stroke for a whole length, or execute a flip turn between lengths. But Weber enjoys this group.

“Novice masters is one of my favorite groups because they improve so fast,” she says. “One lady was really proud of herself. She did a triathlon and cut her time in half. Swimming in the triathlon used to be her least favorite part and now it’s her favorite part.”

Katie Salinas, a 23-year-old public administration student at Seattle University, joined the group in June because, she says, she was starting to need a regular workout. She finds the hour-long workout leaves her feeling more energetic — so much that she’s cutting down on her afternoon caffeine.

Laura Jones, a 23-year-old law student, found that after a month of workouts twice a week, she was already swimming faster and getting more energy. “I just have the stamina to get through five hours of class a day,” she said.

Masters workouts take place at public, YMCA and college pools around the city. They’re often early in the morning, but some clubs have evening workouts as well. They attract adults in a range of ages. (Weber’s swimmers range from age 18 to 63). Some participants compete in swim meets and open water swims. Some are in training for triathlons, and some are just looking for a way to keep fit.

Besides access to a coach, masters swimming offers a chance to meet people, says Jessica Cohen, 29, who joined Weber’s novice group in June. “It’s more fun to swim with people than it is to swim on your own.”

But joining a master’s group isn’t the only way to get started. Pools around the city offer a variety of lessons, lap swims and open swims. Lakes beckon in summer, but if you have the inclination, you can don a dry suit and go swimming outdoors any time of year.

Fiona Cohen is a Seattle-based freelance writer.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company