Eske's swimming practice

Eske took a breath as he removed his layer of clothing only to stand there in his loincloth. He had to also remove this wrappings so they wouldn't get wet then reapply some clean ones later. "Cold water." He said as he kneeled down to place is hands into the water to measure the temperature a bit. (1)

Figuring that here was find and the snow storm ended he sighed to himself as he dipped his toe into the waters briefly before he soaked his feet a bit. He took a breath before fully submerging his body into the murky waters a bit. The water managed to send shivers up his spine briefly, Eske took small breaths to attempt to regulate himself as he sighed, he hasn't even begun swimming yet. (2)

For now he simply allowed himself to float, he narrowed his gaze a bit as he started to learn of the subtle changes his body as he was in the cold waters. Moving his limbs to paddle can become suddenly difficult if given the frigid temperature of the water, it wasn’t that much of a smart idea, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter after all. He coughed a bit as he steadied himself in the water as he started to swim, he had a few things to try in mind, first the backstroke. (3)

Eske at first leaned onto his back to float, with his legs he attempted to do a flutter kick. With his arms, do the "crawl" motion, lifting one arm straight into the air and keeping it straight as it re-enters the water next to your head. (4)

Once his hand was underwater, bend it to bring it back to a straight position next to his side, and repeat. He had to alternate arms as he swam, and try to keep his fingers together and his hands as flat as possible. (5)

He was starting to get the hang of it bit by but after all, his burn wounds were being soothed by the waters after all, so he couldn’t exactly complain about that, it was everything else really. His backstroke needed a bit more work, but he didn’t seem to mind it all that much, since it was a more relaxing experience than he’s used to. He was training, yes, but this was more to cleanse his mind of his worries and help with this injuries. (6)

Since it’s been a while since he’s actually swam he slowly moved himself over to attempt to float before performing a front stroke. Eske decided to try his hand at treading water as the book stated it can help you catch your breath and keep your head up without actually swimming. (7)

First, he used his hands to keep himself balance by means of "sculling" - keeping his forearms flat on the surface of the water, and imagine they're butter knives spreading on a piece of toast. Move one arm in a clockwise circle, and the other arm in a counterclockwise circle. (8)

It was a tad bit embarrassing to say the least, but it would get the job done and that’s really what mattered to him in the grand scheme of it all. He took a breath as he simply floated a bit, if he felt himself sinking a bit he simply kick his feet a few times to keep himself afloat. He sighed a bit as he started to think about practicing some of his swimming techniques. (9)


Eske moved himself towards the back of the wall as he felt his back shiver a bit from the snow touching him. He stretch his hands in front of him in a streamline position. Keeping his feet and legs straight and together, and keep and core tense. (10)

Eske started off low enough in the water that he wanted be able to keep his whole body underwater while he executed the stroke. He had to start off at a slight downward angle in order to achieve this, and it will probably take some practice, hence why he was doing it now. (11)


Eske wanted to breath fully before he actually kicked off. His knees bent slightly and extend behind his body. Eske tilted his pelvis forward slightly to drive this motion. This part of the stroke is the backward kick, and it is meant to get his body into position, since he was able to get this much done he figured he was doing well for himself with this kind of exercise. (12)

He brought his legs forcefully forward. With a tilt of his pelvis backward to drive this part of the stroke. This is the forward kick, which provides the stroke’s propulsion. Eske’s legs should extended in front of his body line during this part of the kick. (13)

Keeping his feet extend fully to somewhat mimic a dolphin’s fins, generate much of the thrust in this kick. Fully extending his ankles can maximize this effect. He was still pushing through the cold as he continued to do small laps around the small field making sure he’d avoid the waterfall whenever he felt like it was sucking him in. (14)

He exhaled a bit as he continued to swim a bit as he pushed his hand through his hair a bit while he continued to keep his body well adjusted as he continued to work on his dolphin stroke before he’d eventually move on to another type of swimming regiment. He paused a bit to take a few breaths as he paused to push his hand through his hair a bit before he continued. (15)

Eske paused a bit as he took a few breaths to steady himself before he allowed the snow on his back to quickly jolt himself awake briefly. Alright, time for the next exercise.” He knew he needed to use the correct arm movement to properly use the butterfly stroke, he also knew it  can be broken down into three parts: the pull, the push and the recovery. (16)

Starting with his arms extended above Eske attempted to head shoulder width apart, pulled his hands towards his body in a semicircular motion, palms facing outwards. Remembering to keep his elbows higher than his hands. This was the pull motion. (17)

Next, Eske was going to attempt the push, begin pushing your palms backwards through the water, along his sides and past his hips. This is the fastest part of the arm movement and provides the momentum necessary to complete the release. He had to practice this motion a few more times in order to prepare himself to combine the two motions to properly perform the next task. (18)

Since he was having some issues, he thought of a good way to remember the pull and push sequence is to imagine making the shape of a large keyhole with his hands underwater. The pull is the wide part of the keyhole at the top, while the push is the narrow part of the keyhole at the bottom. It was more so helping him with imagine training at that point as he continued to move his hands in that motion before he went into the final step of the butterfly stroke, the recovery. (19)

The last part of the butterfly arm movement is the recovery which is where Eske’s hands must be positioned as they are in motion while finishing his pull and are getting ready to begin the subsequent stroke. Essentially making sure his hands hands must reach his thighs. A good way Eske was trying to ensure that he have done this part of the stroke successfully is to drag his thumbs on his thighs as he was finishing the stroke. (20)

Next, Eske swept both arms out of the water simultaneously and throw them forwards into the starting position. His palms should be facing outwards so his thumbs enter the water first, not his pinkies. Eske also, made sure the distance between his arms as he enter the water is no greater than shoulder width apart as this will greatly decrease entry drag allowing easily to cut through the water more efficiently. (21)

Since he performed the dolphin stroke previously he had some knowledge on the dolphin kick motion since it was essential for the butterfly stroke. With the dolphin kick, both legs move simultaneously, and should be pressed together to avoid a loss of water pressure, he did stop a bit to give his legs a rest as he felt him straining a bit given the motion he’s been using. "Phew." (22)

After his rest, Eske splashed a bit of water on his face to prepare himself. He took a breath as he started by kicking twice for each stroke of the arms in butterfly stroke. However, both kicks are not exactly the same - there is one small kick and one big kick. The small kick is performed while he are making the keyhole shape with your arms. He did this because his arms are providing forward momentum in addition to his legs, so the kick doesn't need to be as strong. (23)

The big kick is performed during the recovery, when Eske’s arms come out of the water. During the recovery he tend to lose momentum, so he needed a big kick to keep his body moving forwards. (24)

The most common mistake Eske did make when performing the butterfly stroke is to kick in a uniform fashion, without alternating between small and big kicks. So he continued to attempt correct his makings when it came to alternating his kicks. (25)

Eske .took a breath as he continued to perform his swimming regiment with the butterfly stroke, mostly by moving his body in a wave-like fashion. It's not just his arms and legs that are required during the butterfly stroke, it was getting his whole body to move as a unit during the swimming motion. (26)

Honestly, Eske never seen a mermaid, if that’s how this swimming style was given life, but he did know that whenever he used his type of technique like all the times he needed to keep breathing, but that was obvious. (27)

Given how his body was doing the butterfly stroke was a bit more tricky than he realized as he started to get in motion due to how incorrectly he was taking his breaths leading him to accidentally swallow up some water before hacking some of it up. (28)

Eske coughed a bit as he mauled it over in his head to realize where he went wrong, when he read about this in the book it had something different. He sighed to himself as he attempted to recount the correct point to take a breath during butterfly stroke is when his arms are just coming out of the water at the beginning of the recovery phase. (29)

Since this was the final leg of his laps he figured he’d properly get it down as he reviewed what he remembered seeing from many others. When they performed their arms are about to come out of the water, raise they head until their  chin is just above the water and take a breath. He also remembered to not turn his head to the left or right - it should be kept straight. He mumbled to himself a bit as he figured just reviewing it from a book was too tedious as he emerged from the waters. “I think I’m done here. (30)