To flip or not to flip

I watched this video a bunch and it actually made sense (for once).

I've never been big on flip turns. I had to take swimming for a semester in high school, and I got an A- in the class because I couldn't master them. As I got more into triathlon over the past few years I kind of blew them off. "I don't do flip turns in the lake, so why should I bother to learn them in the pool?" I thought.

But, if I'm being honest with myself, learning flip turns is probably the next step to becoming a better, more efficient swimmer. Serendipitously, I got an email with a link to a video explaining how to do them the night before my next trip to the pool, so I watched it and vowed to give it at least a quick try.

I had a great swim yesterday -- I had a bit of extra time so I did an extra 400 meters, my times were better than they have been in months, etc. I decided to try to keep my good luck going as far as possible and took a few minutes to practice flipping. I started out with a few somersaults in chest-deep water. Then I tried closer and closer to the wall. I had a hard time flipping close enough to the wall that I could actually push off, but I was able to touch once or twice. Nothing like a real turn, but I could tell I was getting it.

I'll keep chugging away. I just hope I get the hang of them before open water swimming season!