I got some success with this on Sunday. The hardest part of doing freestyle (for me) is to stay on top of the water (ie keep my bottom up). So I swam with a pull boy – which helps do just that. It is a float that I put between my thighs.

The other thing that helped, which I have never done before, was to use hand paddles. These seemed to make the stroke a lot easier for me, and I managed 10 lengths non-stop.

It is still work in progress – as I haven’t got the kick right, and I struggle without the assistance of floats etc, but it felt good all the same. I’m starting to feel I can get there – and that is a nice feeling :)