I was afraid of water. Not the kind you drink, the kind you jump into and swim. One summer the Red Cross started sponsoring swimming classes at the local high school and my mother insisted I go. The classes went five days a week for eight weeks. If you were good it was possible to earn a Junior Life Saving rank.
I started out a “Minnow” the first summer, and finished a “Minnow.” The man teacher mainly ignored us beginners by assigning us to the shallow end of the pool. There we splashed around walking back and forth across the shallow water acting like we were swimming. It was a waste of time.
The next summer was a complete surprise, we had a woman for a swimming instructor. The all male class liked that a lot. She spent a lot of time with the beginners going through a step by step method of teaching.
We learned to submerge our faces, then our heads. Too lift our legs off the bottom and “dog paddle” across the shallow end of the pool. Soon we were using the “Australian Crawl” to cross. Next came the deep end of the pool and it was scary at first. But we were soon swimming the whole length of the pool and loving it. The “side stroke”, the “back stroke” and the “butterfly” came next. I was really swimming and yes I earned the Junior Life Saving rank. I was proud of my swimming and frequently visited public pools to practice.
I remember at boot camp in the Navy we had to jump into the deep end of a swimming pool, swim the length, and get out. For me it was easy, but others were afraid and had to be helped. I am thankful for the woman instructor who helped me and others to overcome our fear and just swim.
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