Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Swim for your Life!

Hello!  Summer is in full swing here at Pathfinder Village, and our first campers at Camp Pathfinder are enjoying a full week of experiences at area attractions and here at the Village.  This Saturday night at 7 p.m., we’ll also be kicking off our 20th annual free Summer Concert Series at the Pavilion with one of our favorite bands, the Blues Maneuver.  Come on down to enjoy some great summer fun! 

With its harvest plenty offered at local veggie stands, summer means we’ll be changing our produce market operations as well.  Our Morris Market is on vacation for the summer.  Our Edmeston market will be open during its usual hours, on Thursdays, from 1 to 5 p.m.  We hope to see you tomorrow!

For this week’s blog, my colleague Martha Spiegel offers some thoughts on one of her favorite activities, swimming.

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To have some planned time together and to get some exercise, my husband and I joined the Norwich YMCA a few weeks ago and are hitting the pool! We try to swim three times a week, and are really enjoying it.

We started out swimming for 30 minutes, and are increasing that time by 3 minutes every week, with a goal of 45 minutes. My once-textbook swimming strokes are not what they used to be, so right now I’m doing a combination of walking in the shallow end and modified strokes in the deep end until my muscles catch up with my muscle memory. In addition to getting my heart pumping and my body moving, I also find it relaxing and de-stressing.

Swimming is a great workout, and is easy on the joints since the water supports you all around and you feel buoyant. My dad, now in his 80s, swims every day for an hour and consequently has little arthritis pain.  The strength in his legs helped him bounce back very quickly from knee replacement surgery this past year. Even if you don’t feel comfortable in deep water, walking or running in waist-deep water is a great low-impact activity.

I have always felt at home in the water. Dad taught me to swim when I was very little, and I took swim lessons for several years. My children took lessons as well, and later both became life guards and joined the high school swim team. Now my grandkids are taking lessons through the Norwich Youth Bureau’s summer program. The oldest two didn’t love it their first year, but now with a couple of summers under their belts, they are much more confident. This year all of my son’s children are in lessons; even the one-year-old is enthusiastic and all smiles at her parent/child sessions.

Not everyone is as comfortable in the water, and some are even afraid of it. Even so, it’s important to learn at least some swimming basics to be safe around water. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 360,000 people globally died from drowning in 2015, and drowning is one of the top five causes of death for children through age 14. It’s never too late to learn to swim, either, and many aquatic facilities offer adult swim lessons. Many communities have public pools that residents can use for little or no cost, so see if there is one near you.

Even the best swimmers need to remember safety rules in and around the water. Never swim alone—use the Buddy System, and swim where there is a lifeguard whenever possible. Always wear a life jacket while boating. Never leave children unsupervised around water, even if they are strong swimmers. Wear water-resistant sunscreen and reapply often if you swim outside. There is a great list of safety tips here from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Until next time, cool off, have fun, and get fit!
Martha (and Lori)