My relationship with swimming is a confusing managerie of conflicting memories. I have one memory of visiting a community pool and jumping off the high-dive in a rush of adrenaline, plugging my nose and making a splash. I have another memory of being in a pool for some unofficial swim lessons in which the teacher held my head under the water and I choked with terror. To be frank, I'm not sure which memory came first or how much of each memory is real and how much is emotional conjure. Since my parents took me swimming so infrequently (chalk it up to having a disabled brother?) I feel sure the number averaged less than once a year.
I went to college where a full-size olympic pool was available to me and I spent an entire summer trying to teach myself how to swim. I could float; I had a decent backstroke (that doesn't require putting your face in the water) and a pretty lame freestyle which would get me 1 lap. It seemed sufficient so I ended my pool experience. I had this joke with my friend. When people asked me if I could swim, I would say "Sure...for the first lap! The second lap, I flail, and the third lap, I drown."
My adult life has been spent "fo-swimming". Splashing around in some shallow surf or lounging around the pool at rare opportunities. The amount of time I spent in the water probably averaged three times a year; a small improvement over my childhood average.
Until now.
I forget how the conversation started (I'm a forgetter, remember? ;) but my bible study girls and I were discussing the ability to swim and we discovered that most of us didn't actually know how. Four of us, in fact, had the desire to really learn. All had, in some form, the same phobia of putting our faces in the water, noses unplugged. So when Lori discovered a two-week "adult swim lesson" class at a nearby pool for only $30, we took the plunge. Together.
And you know what? Three days into it and I can put my whole face in the water and move forward without plugging my nose or choking in terror. It's a small miracle, I tell you! I don't think I ever expected to have that ability in my lifetime. I'm serious. I thought plugging was the way it was gonna be. I would never do a triatholon, I would never rescue anyone or learn to surf or truly play in the ocean or win the Amazing Race or ever be eligible for Survivor. ;)
Now, I'm positivly inspired and empowered! Sure, I still haven't learned a single stroke. But I can put my head in the water! For long periods of time! And not drown! Rejoice with me, my friends! Skies the limit! I can almost swim! :D
I went to college where a full-size olympic pool was available to me and I spent an entire summer trying to teach myself how to swim. I could float; I had a decent backstroke (that doesn't require putting your face in the water) and a pretty lame freestyle which would get me 1 lap. It seemed sufficient so I ended my pool experience. I had this joke with my friend. When people asked me if I could swim, I would say "Sure...for the first lap! The second lap, I flail, and the third lap, I drown."
My adult life has been spent "fo-swimming". Splashing around in some shallow surf or lounging around the pool at rare opportunities. The amount of time I spent in the water probably averaged three times a year; a small improvement over my childhood average.
Until now.
I forget how the conversation started (I'm a forgetter, remember? ;) but my bible study girls and I were discussing the ability to swim and we discovered that most of us didn't actually know how. Four of us, in fact, had the desire to really learn. All had, in some form, the same phobia of putting our faces in the water, noses unplugged. So when Lori discovered a two-week "adult swim lesson" class at a nearby pool for only $30, we took the plunge. Together.
And you know what? Three days into it and I can put my whole face in the water and move forward without plugging my nose or choking in terror. It's a small miracle, I tell you! I don't think I ever expected to have that ability in my lifetime. I'm serious. I thought plugging was the way it was gonna be. I would never do a triatholon, I would never rescue anyone or learn to surf or truly play in the ocean or win the Amazing Race or ever be eligible for Survivor. ;)
Now, I'm positivly inspired and empowered! Sure, I still haven't learned a single stroke. But I can put my head in the water! For long periods of time! And not drown! Rejoice with me, my friends! Skies the limit! I can almost swim! :D
1 comment:
Well. Just put your foot in the water,and start ya swimming!!!!
Cheers,
Abe's Heart.
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