When I entered high school we were told that to graduate we had to swim the length of the pool. I never got beyond sitting at the edge with my feet in the freezing water, watching the other kids and feeling embarrassed about not getting in. It was a cold summer and we were always frozen and purple when she came to pick us up. I asked her about this recently, and she said she remembered hauling us over to the swimming pool (but never staying to watch). One summer when I was about nine my mother signed up us younger kids for swim lessons. I entered the water on-guard and never went in very deep. On hot summer days after working on the farm, my 12 siblings and I would go to a local lake - I often played in the water but was afraid that one of my brothers or some other boy would pull me under - a terrifying experience for me, not being able to breathe, not being able to reach the surface. She never learned to swim and refused to come to family outings near water. At 89 she still frequently describes this event in detail, and I feel how deeply she was traumatized by it. One of my earliest memories is of my mother describing in detail the last time she saw her brother, how he fell from a boat, and what his body was like after three days in the river. My fear of deep water began with my mother. I am honored to have inspired adults to, literally, take the plunge and learn how to swim, thereby experiencing this same gift. Swimming has been a rich and important part of my life and continues to give me great pleasure. To read about these courageous and inspiring adults I’ve worked with, go to Adult Swimmers’ Stories. Subsequent to that, I asked other adult students to share their swimming stories. To read her 13-part series, go to Shoney’s Story. Her own description of this incredible process is more accurate and heartfelt than anything I could possibly describe. We struck a bargain: she would write a blog about her lessons in exchange for my teaching her how to swim. She was 54 and wanted to learn how to swim. After hearing about some of the unbelievable challenges my mature students had faced that kept them out of the water for decades, I wanted to share their stories - as well what was important to look for when choosing an instructor and tips I have learned in the process.Īround the same time a new student, Shoney, came to me. The journalist had interviewed me for the piece on adults learning to swim, but nothing of real value that I had shared was conveyed in the final article, which you can find at this site. My inspiration for asking my adult students to write about their swimming experiences came from reading an article in the Wall Street Journal.
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