My friends have been going swimming at a nearby pool and they keep pestering me to accompany them. I would love to except there is a tiny bit of a problem - though I know how to swim, I am hydrophobic!
I found this out when I was learning how to swim. Let me tell you the story of how I learnt to swim…
It so happened that the University I went to had this bizarre rule that students could not graduate unless they passed a swim test!!
This applied to all students without exception (including Michael Jordan & Antawn Jamison who were given their graduation certificates only after they successfully passed the swim test). I did not know how to swim then so I had to enroll in a swimming class. The class took place on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9.30-10.45 am and I used to dread them!
I was miserable at coordinating my breathing with my movements. I think I was the second worst student in class. I would start feeling uneasy just being in the water (not necessarily in the deep end), and I would huff & puff my way through it.
I remember the day we were learning how to dive, my instructor stood patiently behind me for 45 minutes after the class got over, urging me to take the plunge. She refused to let me go until I dove. After much coercion from her, I did. I belly-plopped and she sent me promptly back to do it again, over & over till I got it right!
And then came the day of the swim test. We had to dive into the deep end, swim two laps and stay afloat in the deep end for 5 minutes.
I haven’t been swimming very often after that. I desperately want to get rid of my hydrophobia but being in the water takes too much out of me. I know this is going to be one of the biggest regrets of my life. I’m so envious of people who glide through the water with elegance & squeaky clean movements. And when I see A, who started learning to swim just a couple of months ago, swim like a fish, I feel like jumping right in. Only if I could.....
How about you? Are you a fearless swimmer? Is there anything else you wish you could do but you can't, for whatever reason?
5 comments:
I have been thinking.. make that dreaming of learning how to swim for the last 5-6 yrs!!!! Finally tracked down a place here in Blr.. but then didnt join as heard it was not good!!! I really badly want to learn swimming!!! Scared of swimming too.. but i really want to learn!!!! :(
Why dont you swim everyday? Maybe that will take care of your hydrophobia?
@Moonshine - I tried but I panic the moment I step into the water. Maybe I need to hire a personal instructor who can take me through it all over again! LOL :)
nope, can't swim.
i love the water though and every holiday will see me booking hotels with swimming pools. I'll bounce around in the water but i still haven't managed to learn to swim.....
@Mumbai Diva - Aren't you pure jealous of people who can swim like a figh? :(
Fish
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