Unit 1 Literacy paper

 Felicity Sumner

Writing 105

Lyndsey Weiner

9/28/23

Becoming Literate 

Swimming is a niche community. Most people don’t know the four racing strokes unless you are a competitive swimmer. Through the fourteen consecutive years I swam, I can confidently say I am literate in swimming. I started swimming at 3-4 years old. I was only taking swimming lessons, but that's the first step in learning the swimming techniques. I joined my first swim club at seven years old. I was only doing summer league, but I stuck with that specific team until I graduated from the team at 18 years old. Around ten years old, I started swimming year-round. I was swimming three days a week all winter and every day in the summer until high school. I moved winter teams to a more competitive team and started swimming daily, lifting and attending all the meets I could. When covid hit for the first time, my passion for the sport faltered, and I was ready to move on with my life. But I didn't stop until I graduated high school. I got burned out; I was putting in so much effort for so long, and eventually, I felt like I stopped seeing results. I think I am fluent in swim racing through my history with the sport. I have dedicated so much of my life to the sport because I was passionate about it. My journey in swimming has taught me to be literate in the sport, but what does that mean? 

To be literate in swimming or becoming fluent in swimming has many layers. Swimming is all about technique; what position makes you more arrow dynamic in the water? How can you change the way you swim to become faster? There are four different strokes in swimming. That means four different strokes with four other techniques that must be “mastered” before becoming fluent. Now, there is no one way to master the stroke, but as long as the swimmer can find a way that works for them, that is conquering it. As you grow and learn more about swimming, your technique will change and grow and become more personalized and effective. There is the technical actual swimming-oriented fluency, and then there is becoming literate in the swimming community, which is also very important to become fluent.

The swimming community is a very tight-knit community, as I mentioned earlier. It's a community that you're either a part of or not. Most people either know about swimming or don't. As a swimmer, I have my vocabulary when referring to my sport. Fashion is also a massive aspect of swimming. If I were speaking to someone not in this community, they would not know what I am saying. Phrases like “leave on the top/bottom,” “What heat are you in?”, “what's your stroke count,” etc. Becoming fluent in the language of swimmers is also essential to being a part of the community. It proves your loyalty and your comfort level. I don't recall being formally taught these terms, but spending so much time and immersing myself in the community is another way I learned to talk. I am literate in the language of swimming. 

There are also definitely fashion trends that every swimmer (literally across the country) follows. For girls, the most popular and only practice suit brand that people buy suits from is Jolyn. If I see someone wearing a Jolyn, I know they are a swimmer. It has reached the point where most girls don't wear their team suits to meets. They also race in a jolyn. Guys also have fashion trends. Around 15-16, guys wear speedos instead of knee-length suits. As an outside person, hearing that they may think guys wearing speedos is weird, but all the guys wear speedos; it’s a fashion trend amongst the older boys. People are drawn to other swimmers from all over the map because of their shared interest in swimming. Having a specific style is also something that represents the community as a whole. Following the trends and speaking the same are critical factors to being fluent as a swimmer, so much so that others worldwide observe similar trends. 

Other people in the swimming community worldwide have the same understanding of literacy in swimming. Upon further research, I came across a blogging website dedicated to the swim racing community; on the website, blogs talk about the laws of the lane. Laws of the lane are another thing an average person doesn't understand: “Wait a minimum of 5 seconds before pushing off.. As a courtesy to your fellow swimmers, wait a minimum of 5 seconds before pushing off after someone - even longer if you can.” (Simply swim). This is something I can attest to as an unspoken rule for practice. Little specific like this, every swimmer must know to be fluent. If someone isn't following the lane etiquette, it can disrupt everyone else's work; not understanding these laws shows your lack of understanding of the community, and therefore one can't be fluent. 

Technique is the most critical variable in becoming a fluent swimmer. You need to have your technique down to properly swim each stroke, meaning you can't be articulate as a swimmer. There are a lot of tiny techniques that go into swimming, a backstroke turn being one of those essential skills that can be difficult to get right. “You will see after a swimmer rolls to their stomach with both hands at their side (shown in the picture above), the movements following this are the same between a Freestyle Flip Turn and a Backstroke Flipturn besides the push-off angle.” (swim like a fish). In this blog, the coach breaks down what position your body should be in at each step of the flip turn. Every step is significant; if someone can't put all the effort together to complete the skill, they can't swim fluently. 

There are a couple of fundamental aspects that you must learn before you can be considered fluent in the sport. Over the years and hours I have spent with swimmers, at the pool, and most importantly, swimming, I am confident that I am a fluent swimmer. What does that mean? That means I have developed my skill set, understand lane and pool etiquette, understand swimming terminology, and am current on the latest fashion trends. Most importantly, though, I share a love for the sport that everyone in the community shares.