Rant: Old timer convinced me to stop fighting the current

I used to think fighting strong currents was just part of the job. You know, muscle through it. Then last month on a bridge inspection near Seattle, a guy named Pete who's been diving since the 80s just pulled me aside. He said, 'Stop wrestling the water, let it work for you.' He showed me how to angle my body and time my kicks with the flow. It cut my air usage by almost 20% that day. Has anyone else had an old hand change how you approach a simple thing like current?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek1mo ago

Well said. That subtle shift in timing and body position is exactly the kind of thing you can't learn from a manual, only from someone who's been in the water long enough to see the difference.

the_alice1mo ago

That line about "can't learn from a manual" hits close to home. I've got a shelf full of surfing manuals and somehow they never mentioned the part where you eat sand for three summers before anything starts to click.