I'm 27 years old and very afraid of water but I've decided I want to finally get over that fear and learn how to swim. My only previous experience of being in the water was five afternoon swimming lessons through school when I was 11, couple of trips to the lake where I waded in up to my chest and stood around and 2 aquafit classes when I was 24. I recently signed up for lessons at the YMCA that are once a week for an hour, plus I usually go to the pool for a couple of hours on weekends. I've taken 6 weeks of lessons now and I've improved a lot but in some ways I feel like I haven't improved enough. I used to be afraid to even put my face in the water and after about 10 hours of pool time I finally figured out how to blow bubbles out my nose. I still haven't figured out how to blow bubbles out my mouth without inhaling water and I don't feel like I can blow bubbles or hold my breath long enough to even do a short front glide. I'm still afraid to even do a back or front float without assistance of some sort because I'm worried about my head going under. I've bought some nose plugs, but none of them seem to work very well for me. I've figured out how to tread water but of course I'm only comfortable doing that because my feet aren't far from the bottom and my head isn't underwater. I'm getting frustrated because I'm the only one in my adult class who seems to be afraid of the water to such a large degree. I've signed up for an additional set of lessons to the ones I'm taking now, but I'm worried that I'm not going to improve significantly because of my fear. My fiancee's sister is a lifeguard and she says I could be swimming laps by next summer but I'm not so sure. I know a child who isn't afraid can learn quickly but I'm not so sure about myself. I was hoping that someone here might have some advice or encouragement on how I can become more comfortable in the water and give me some idea of how long it should take an afraid adult to learn how to swim. Thanks.
Congratulations on combatting your fear. Just try to realize that it will take time. Do not be self-conscious about "slow" progress. Every supposedly small advancement is really a huge step forward for people that have fear of the water.
When I was 6 and unable to swim, I slipped on an icy dock along the Hudson River and fell into frigid water. I remember looking up after I fell in on my back and seeing white ice blocks all around me. I don't remember struggling because I didn't know how to. I didn't even feel the cold water (maybe because I was in shock). My grandmother who was supposed to be watching me didn't realize that I made my way down to the river to play, so I was all alone. By luck or whatever you choose to believe in, the next thing that I remember was awakening to my grandmother's sobbing voice on the shore. As a result of this incident, I shyed away from the water (even our dinky backyard pool) irrationally blaming it on the movie "Jaws" for 35 years.
The other important thing that resulted from this was for my wife and I to ensure that our kids did not fear the water the way I did, so we signed them up for lessons at a young age. After years of watching my kids and wife at swim meets, I decided to give it a try which incidentally is the biggest step.
A little over 2 years ago, I got back into the water at a pool that was no deeper than 4 1/2 feet to start learning to swim and to conquer my fear of the water and to get some exercise. I didn't take lessons, probably because I was embarassed, but I took it one step at a time. I was paniced and tense at first (for weeks), but I gradually learned by imitating my kids. I could not swim 25 yards without stopping or at least feeling an overwhelming panicy feeling for several attempts, but I decided to keep at it until I could feel more comfortable.
To make a long story short, I am in my second year of training with a Masters swim team and aside from my family and friends, it is the most important thing in my life. I can now swim all 4 strokes and swim about 3000 - 4000 yds 4 times a week. The key for me was persistent baby steps and realizing that while not every day will bring improvement, my confidence would grow and with becoming reasonably assured that I was not going to drown I became more relaxed. And with relaxation comes buoyancy.
So please stay with it and I am sure that you will be singing the praises of this great sport in years to come. Good luck!!
Congratulations on combatting your fear. Just try to realize that it will take time. Do not be self-conscious about "slow" progress. Every supposedly small advancement is really a huge step forward for people that have fear of the water.
When I was 6 and unable to swim, I slipped on an icy dock along the Hudson River and fell into frigid water. I remember looking up after I fell in on my back and seeing white ice blocks all around me. I don't remember struggling because I didn't know how to. I didn't even feel the cold water (maybe because I was in shock). My grandmother who was supposed to be watching me didn't realize that I made my way down to the river to play, so I was all alone. By luck or whatever you choose to believe in, the next thing that I remember was awakening to my grandmother's sobbing voice on the shore. As a result of this incident, I shyed away from the water (even our dinky backyard pool) irrationally blaming it on the movie "Jaws" for 35 years.
The other important thing that resulted from this was for my wife and I to ensure that our kids did not fear the water the way I did, so we signed them up for lessons at a young age. After years of watching my kids and wife at swim meets, I decided to give it a try which incidentally is the biggest step.
A little over 2 years ago, I got back into the water at a pool that was no deeper than 4 1/2 feet to start learning to swim and to conquer my fear of the water and to get some exercise. I didn't take lessons, probably because I was embarassed, but I took it one step at a time. I was paniced and tense at first (for weeks), but I gradually learned by imitating my kids. I could not swim 25 yards without stopping or at least feeling an overwhelming panicy feeling for several attempts, but I decided to keep at it until I could feel more comfortable.
To make a long story short, I am in my second year of training with a Masters swim team and aside from my family and friends, it is the most important thing in my life. I can now swim all 4 strokes and swim about 3000 - 4000 yds 4 times a week. The key for me was persistent baby steps and realizing that while not every day will bring improvement, my confidence would grow and with becoming reasonably assured that I was not going to drown I became more relaxed. And with relaxation comes buoyancy.
So please stay with it and I am sure that you will be singing the praises of this great sport in years to come. Good luck!!
