This past Monday evening, I went swimming for the first time since my amputation. Swimming was never my biggest activity in the past. I was actually quite slow to learn it, in fact, finally doing so after repeated frustration at not being able to fully participate in the pool parties that were popular in my grade school days. Even afterwards, I was always more comfortable on land, and could never get fully comfortable in the water.
But once that leg came off, swimming jumped high up on the list of things I wanted to do. In the water, I don't need a prosthetic leg to move around. So suddenly, I am not in an unaided state much less mobile than most people around me. The one time I took a bath during chemo, I actually did not feel legless. So once I was recovered and going about my daily life, this motivation put going to the pool high atop my list of things to do.
And so, on Monday evening, Ashley took me to the local pool where she works. (I'm visiting her this week.) I wanted to have someone there with me my first time in the water, and she was very helpful, watching my strokes and helping me adjust to doing them with only half a left leg. Yes, in this setting, I did once again feel legless. I had always done the kicks with two full legs in the past, and without two full legs, things felt much different. The basic freestyle kick alone didn't move me. The whip kick used in the breaststroke and elementary backstroke did, but the uneven leg length had me unable to move in a straight line. So my arms were crucial, and with them, I was able to do those strokes, though not very far as I need to get in much better cardiovascular shape. Furthermore, my right leg got a big workout from the times I was standing on it in the pool. I would have preferred a deep end where I could tread water to get some more exercise and take some pressure off the leg, but unfortunately, this pool did not have one.
Still, it felt great to get in the water and do a big exercise like swimming without having to use a prosthesis. I certainly will be back for more. And big things are possible for amputee swimmers, even without prosthetic legs. I found out last year about Natalie du Toit of South Africa, whose left leg was amputated at the knee as a teenager and yet competed in the 10K swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics without a prosthesis. Though I'll certainly never be anything near an elite swimmer, the fact that it's possible for an amputee to swim competitively against Olympic athletes without any prosthetic help inspires me, and I look forward to more good days in the water.
