Feeling the Pressure: The Focus of Swimming

I've been learning how to swim all over again these past two weeks.

When you walk around your town, you're not usually too aware of how you move through the air.  It's only when it's windy that you feel it.  During any swimming motion, water is moving around you, and you have to become aware of how it's moving.  As I am paying closer attention to water and my body as I move around in the pool, I am thinking about water pressure and my hands and arms. Without pressure, you don't go forward.  

A long time ago, I was told to take a look at a good swimmer stroking from one end of a pool to the other and notice this:  They seemed to stick their arm into the water out in front of themselves and the hand extended out there stayed put while the body moved to it, over it, and past it.  I thought it was an optical illusion at first, but it's true.  The swimmer's body was moving so well in the water that it actually moved past the point where his hand entered while the hand stayed in that one spot the whole time.

Anyway, a swimmer has to have a very certain focus on how the water pressure feels at all times.  For me, keeping my mind on what I want my hands and arms to feel is sometimes a lot like herding cats.  I think about a million other things when I swim and have to keep bringing my mind back on track.  When I get my mind in the game and really zero in on the sensation of pressure on my palms, forearms and head, it feels great.  Then, I feel like I'm flying.