Crazy swimming project

While swimming this morning, I was thinking about a 16th C swimming treatise (as one does) and thought it would be really fun to try and recreate all the instructions. The electronic version I have access to does not include the illustrations, so someone needs to make this information available to the broader medieval recreation ist swimming public, right?

It feels a bit like redacting a recipe book. I cook a lot so can usually translate medieval instructions into useable modern recipes. I swim a lot, so why not do the same with swimming instructions? I have tried doing almost all the things in the treatise already, so it’s just a matter of matching technique and instruction, then recording clips of it all. There will be a couple of other anachronisms besides electronic recordings: there are virtually no records of women swimming, and the images of swimmers (male and female) show them either naked or in underwear. I‘ll wear my modern suit (maybe with a short chemise over top). I may even use a cap and goggles.

I need a new project like I need a hole in the head, but at at least it is one that is time bound (will need to be done outdoors while the weather is warm), and doesn’t require bringing more stuff into my house.



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