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.
Parents
Former Member
...It doesn't make sense to learn swimming skills in shallow water and then expect to suddenly transfer them to deep water. You can learn to swim across the pool well enough in the shallow end, but do not expect to do the swim the same way in the deep end. I have found that that indeed doesn't work...
Trust me, the skills are exactly the same. It seems to me that you are over-analyzing things and it also seems that you have two completely separate issues to deal with: a) lack of swimming technique, and b) fear of deep water.
Just deal with the first one for now. Spend a year or more learning in a shallow pool, and don't even think about the other issue. If cold is a problem, get a neoprene paddling shirt to wear while learning.
When you feel ready, then work on your deep water anxiety. Perhaps take a snorkeling class through a local dive shop in their deep tank. Or even take a few of those deep-water aquasize classes where people put on float belts and do exercises to music. A woman once told me she'd overcome her fear of deep water by doing that.
You'll know when you're ready. I bought that Happy Laps dvd for my step-daughter because she'd mentioned she felt anxious in water and that it inhibited her ability to take her kids to the pool and play with them. When I gave her the dvd, she chose to interpret it to mean it was for the girls, who in fact have no fear of water and swim quite well. So, clearly she wasn't ready yet. (By the way, it's worth buying as an addition to any other lessons. One of the demonstrators is a woman who overcame a 50 year fear of water after watching a childhood friend drown, and there are several exercises that you can do at home.)
...It doesn't make sense to learn swimming skills in shallow water and then expect to suddenly transfer them to deep water. You can learn to swim across the pool well enough in the shallow end, but do not expect to do the swim the same way in the deep end. I have found that that indeed doesn't work...
Trust me, the skills are exactly the same. It seems to me that you are over-analyzing things and it also seems that you have two completely separate issues to deal with: a) lack of swimming technique, and b) fear of deep water.
Just deal with the first one for now. Spend a year or more learning in a shallow pool, and don't even think about the other issue. If cold is a problem, get a neoprene paddling shirt to wear while learning.
When you feel ready, then work on your deep water anxiety. Perhaps take a snorkeling class through a local dive shop in their deep tank. Or even take a few of those deep-water aquasize classes where people put on float belts and do exercises to music. A woman once told me she'd overcome her fear of deep water by doing that.
You'll know when you're ready. I bought that Happy Laps dvd for my step-daughter because she'd mentioned she felt anxious in water and that it inhibited her ability to take her kids to the pool and play with them. When I gave her the dvd, she chose to interpret it to mean it was for the girls, who in fact have no fear of water and swim quite well. So, clearly she wasn't ready yet. (By the way, it's worth buying as an addition to any other lessons. One of the demonstrators is a woman who overcame a 50 year fear of water after watching a childhood friend drown, and there are several exercises that you can do at home.)
