Since teaching non-swimming adults how to swim is the public service initiative of the USMS I think it would be fun to have a thread to discuss war stories, tricks that work, and just the overall good feeling it gives you when you teach someone a skill that you love to do so much!
I just graduated 2 wonderful ladies Monday night. Both ladies have joined facilities with lap swimming available and have started their exercise/fitness programs! I am in awe of their dedication and motivation to over-come their fear of the deep water and work hard enough to make fitness through swimming a reality! The next time I'm not in the mood to go to a workout I'll try to draw from their exuberance and get myself to the pool.
If your team doesn't have a SSL program my advice is to start one. I guarantee you'll have fun, plus there's no better way to contribute to the culture of swimming than to get others started!!
I haven't ever taught anyone how to swim but did get a wonderful perspective one day after a workout I'd finished. Frustrated that I couldn't seem to master the flip turn, I was beating myself up for that (not out loud, just in my mind). Then I overheard a couple women talking about their swimming lessons. One of them was saying how she was nervous about putting her face in the water. It suddenly occurred to me that I had a lot to be grateful for as a swimmer--I'd started as a kid, and so as an adult, I didn't have any issue with putting my face in the water. I was grateful not only for my ability to do that but for those who'd taught me back as a kid and helped me overcome my fear of deep water back then. (It took me a few years after I learned to swim before I ventured into deep water.)
Then I realized that many of the people to whom flip turns came naturally had been practicing them since childhood, and I had to be patient w/ my progress, not compare myself to someone else--and at the same time be able to empathize with those starting out.
I am as much in awe of the women I overheard--who had the courage to start lessons as adults--as of those who had flip turns nailed. Everyone has different goals, and that's cool.
I haven't ever taught anyone how to swim but did get a wonderful perspective one day after a workout I'd finished. Frustrated that I couldn't seem to master the flip turn, I was beating myself up for that (not out loud, just in my mind). Then I overheard a couple women talking about their swimming lessons. One of them was saying how she was nervous about putting her face in the water. It suddenly occurred to me that I had a lot to be grateful for as a swimmer--I'd started as a kid, and so as an adult, I didn't have any issue with putting my face in the water. I was grateful not only for my ability to do that but for those who'd taught me back as a kid and helped me overcome my fear of deep water back then. (It took me a few years after I learned to swim before I ventured into deep water.)
Then I realized that many of the people to whom flip turns came naturally had been practicing them since childhood, and I had to be patient w/ my progress, not compare myself to someone else--and at the same time be able to empathize with those starting out.
I am as much in awe of the women I overheard--who had the courage to start lessons as adults--as of those who had flip turns nailed. Everyone has different goals, and that's cool.
