Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
I discovered this the hard way in a free-diving weekend down in Byron Bay.
We were practising a discipline called “Dynamic Apnea”, where you swim very gracefully in a pool under the water. You want to be smooth and efficient and relaxed and to conserve your oxygen.
And I did the exact opposite. I was trying to attempt a 100-meter swim, I got to 90-meters. I was being far too energetic and ambitious. I came up at the hundred meters, I grabbed the wall, and I passed out. I didn’t breathe for ten minutes after that, and I woke up to my mates and paramedics standing over me.
That was a very scary moment in my life. It has taught me to slow down, to stop being such an idiot, and to be a lot smoother and more graceful in life.
