member spotlight
Teena & Aquatic Instructor / Swim Lesson Coordinator , Sydney Wolfe
HAC MEMBER
TEENA MCGOVERN
Before her experience taking swimming lessons at HAC with aquatic instructor / swim lessons coordinator , Sydney Wolfe , Teena McGovern never would have imagined herself turning into the great swimmer she is today at the age of 73 . When Teena came to the club around the middle of October , Andy
Morris ( HAC Aquatics Director ) suggested she take lessons with Sydney because Sydney is certified as an Athletic Trainer . During Teena ’ s first lesson , Sydney noticed some scarring on her shoulder and decided to investigate further ; the scarring had been a result of her having undergone shoulder replacement surgery . “ Upon discovering this ,” Sydney said , “ I made necessary adjustments with my teaching to help her succeed .” From the moment the two started working together , Teena ’ s life only got better .
38 HACHEALTHCLUB . COM by Kaetlin Zink
Prior to enrolling in swim lessons , Teena admitted the last time she attempted to swim was as many as 30 years ago . Though she tried taking lessons over that period of time , her fear of drowning had always gotten the best of her . This long hiatus from swimming , Teena felt , could partially be attributed to her family ’ s fear of swimming . Teena explained how her own mother would exhibit fear at the mere sight of water on TV . Since swimming was not a priority for Teena ’ s parents , she allowed this fear to persist for a long time . She had always been satisfied with just standing up in the shallow end where she was certain she could touch the bottom – until now .
After an initial evaluation of Teena ’ s swimming skills , Sydney noticed Teena was struggling to get one arm out of the water on her stroke recovery . “ In order to increase her shoulder range of motion , I began to incorporate a few arm raise exercises using the natural resistance of the water .” Sydney also noticed that Teena ’ s overall flexibility could be improved : “ I had her work on backwards walking to increase her lower body flexibility , as well as balancing skills .” By focusing on both exercises , they were able to get a better body rotation out of Teena ’ s overall freestyle stroke , allowing her arm to get a higher recovery out of the water .
At home , Teena uses pulleys to maximize her shoulder range of motion . Along with practicing her swim skills on her own , she also engages in many other physical activities to stay in shape , including daily walks ,