Swimming was the sport I missed most when I was diagnosed with COPD and needed to use oxygen full time. A friend who was also my yoga teacher devised this system for me, which works very well in the small swimming pool at my townhouse complex. I wear my cannula, slip a pair of child-size water wings over my shoulders and strap the portable Oxylite to a small floating raft. My teacher stays besides me, holding on to the raft and keeps herself afloat with a long waterproof polyester tube. I can do a side stroke up and down the pool and even float on my back. We generally do this early in the morning before the Arizona sun gets too hot and other people are swimming. It’s a wonderfully refreshing way to start the day!

Jean Henderer, Tucson, AZ

I have interstitial lung disease. I swim laps in an Olympic sized pool almost every day and have done so for several years. I have been using liquid oxygen for 16 months. I started swimming with oxygen a year ago and since then many people in my community have asked me how I do it - I was even featured in the Rossmoore News one week!

The trick is very simple: I park my liquid oxygen tank (a Companion 550) on the side of the pool halfway between the shallow and deep ends and use a 30 foot long (cut from a 50 foot piece of tubing) hose connected to my nasal cannula. When I first started, I just wound about 20 feet of tubing around the cart but later shortened the hose for greater convenience. I set the companion for 2 liter continuous flow (it can be set for pulse mode), slide into the shallow end of the pool and start backstroking my way to the other end. I do have to stretch out the tubing and push it to the poolside, out of my way when I turn around (no racing turns!) and also remember to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. That breathing style is the opposite of my usual and was the hardest thing to manage when I began. The folks I share the community pool with are generally very accommodating to my need to use a side lane and I get to continue my favorite form of exercise!

Hazel Horti, Walnut Creek, CA