Here is my story:
I am a 63-year old male who is looking to started swimming instruction. I was very afraid of the water growing up and avoided swimming lessons througout childhood and adolescence, although my two younger siblings learned without trouble. I was the typical shy, glasses-wearing nerd-type, tall and thin, with mostly intellectual interests. I did try several sports when young but didn't do well at any of them. I gave those up by tenth grade and have only walked for exercise since. I had zero water experience exxcept for some summertime wading in lakes.
I didn't learn to swim in high school, since none of the local high schools then required it. I often wonder what I would have done if they had.
After watching the 1972 Olympics, I finally decided to face my fear and, at age 27, enroll in an adult swimming class. Despite a humiliating experience in the first session ("OK, let's everyone swim down to the end of the pool and back.") I persevered and kept coming. That first session I submerged for the first time, simple but very scary. We worked on very basic skills. It took some courage just to open my eyes underwater.
I worked on the basic stuff, but never enjoyed it. There was minimal emphasis on building confidence and relaxation before moving on to stroke mechanics. We were introduced to deep-water adjustment skills, which I was not really ready for. They included descending the ladder to the bottom in the deep end, deep-water entry, and jumping off the diving board. The last two were terrifying. All I could think of was to get back and grab the side as soon as I could.
I never got totally comfortable with my face in the water. Every time I was in a prone in the water I thought of what it was like to drown.
Being in the prone position in the deep was especially scary. I just couldn't do it.
I took swimming classes off and on for about ten years with only modest success. I did learn the elementary back stroke and back crawl, but couldn't do any storkes on the front. I was given a kick board to practice the flutter kick but, despite much trying, couldn't move an inch. Strangely enough, I could kick across the pool, slowly, without using a board.
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Former Member
... I do not feel that trying to become an overall competent swimmer at this point is realistic. It makes more since simply to concentrate on becoming comfortable in the water and, hopefully, learning to have fun. Forget about learning to swim. That might come later. Trying to acquire swimming skills in order to be come be safe and comfortable is putting the cart before the horse. I feel strongly that, at least for people like me, a separate course in water adjustment should PRECEDE entrance into a beginning swim class. You cannot really learn even the simplest swimming mechanics without first learning to relax and be in control. Such a course must take an extremely slow and incremental approach, and be taught by a gentle, noncritical instructor. There should be NO emphasis on teaching swimming mechanics, but rather on being relaxed and in control. ... And why shouldn't the student not be taught to have fun in the water? The stress was always on the same grim series of drills attempting to teach basic swim skills. Making someone do something he does not want to do DOES NOT work. It can never work. Pupils must be allowed to view water as a wonderful source of pleasure and delight, even sensuality...
Check out the "Happy Laps" dvd from the Total Immersion people. (NAYY) It is specifically for people who are afraid of the water or have just never learned to swim, and the earliest exercises are simple techniques just to get comfortable in the water. They encourage you to get a partner to help you learn.
I so agree about the "grim series of drills". On Sunday mornings I go to the YWCA for my long swim and frequently take a lane next to two ladies who are trying to learn to swim. The instructor keeps saying things like "Now kick really hard! I want to see white water!" and as a result they don't seem to be progressing at all or enjoying the process one bit.
... I do not feel that trying to become an overall competent swimmer at this point is realistic. It makes more since simply to concentrate on becoming comfortable in the water and, hopefully, learning to have fun. Forget about learning to swim. That might come later. Trying to acquire swimming skills in order to be come be safe and comfortable is putting the cart before the horse. I feel strongly that, at least for people like me, a separate course in water adjustment should PRECEDE entrance into a beginning swim class. You cannot really learn even the simplest swimming mechanics without first learning to relax and be in control. Such a course must take an extremely slow and incremental approach, and be taught by a gentle, noncritical instructor. There should be NO emphasis on teaching swimming mechanics, but rather on being relaxed and in control. ... And why shouldn't the student not be taught to have fun in the water? The stress was always on the same grim series of drills attempting to teach basic swim skills. Making someone do something he does not want to do DOES NOT work. It can never work. Pupils must be allowed to view water as a wonderful source of pleasure and delight, even sensuality...
Check out the "Happy Laps" dvd from the Total Immersion people. (NAYY) It is specifically for people who are afraid of the water or have just never learned to swim, and the earliest exercises are simple techniques just to get comfortable in the water. They encourage you to get a partner to help you learn.
I so agree about the "grim series of drills". On Sunday mornings I go to the YWCA for my long swim and frequently take a lane next to two ladies who are trying to learn to swim. The instructor keeps saying things like "Now kick really hard! I want to see white water!" and as a result they don't seem to be progressing at all or enjoying the process one bit.
