My parents ran a Hotel, so in the Summer we went to the beach every afternoon. I just taught myself to swim in the sea . . . used a rubber ring til I was about 5, then could swim without it. I taught both my daughters to swim in a pool from when they babies (we'd go at least once a week) . . . both could swim without armbands by the time they were 3 ! Like me, they both love the water . . . on holidays they spend 80% of the time on the beach in the sea. They also love Aquaparks, and I've taught them both to Windsurf. So the secret is to start young . . . then you have no fears about it ! I could never imagine living far from the sea . . . even in Winter I go to a great cafe down on the beach. When I was headhunted and got offered a job right up North (where I now live) the first thing I did was check out the beaches. If they were bad I wouldn't have accepted the job! (things like that are important to me . . . same as not buying a house with no antenna possibilities!) Roger G3YRO
Swimming lessons at the city park pool then the Boy Scouts for advanced swimming and life saving and the mile swim. John WD5IKX
I was 4 years old...fell in the spring pool in February .(40 degrees) I learned to swim real fast. I'm still a good swimmer.
I guess I never understood why someone couldn't swim... not like a "professional" but just to keep you head above water if you had to in case you got dumped out of a boat. Seems like the survival mode would kick in at least so that you would be able to dog paddle. Like my other post about not having any swimming lessons, it just seems to me natural to try and keep your head above water. Then again... living in Florida you almost have to be able to swim! ...DOUG KD4MOJ
After you calm down and relax you eventually float...but it may be face down. I was a natural swimmer myself...I think it was because I spent lots of time in the water with other good swimmers (my mom and dad) and learned by observing. I can fully understand folks who spent little time in the water tensing up every time they get near open water. I've observed first hand people who could not swim...as a member of our High School swim team we assisted our coach attempt to teach incoming freshmen how to swim. You could easily pick out those that would pass the class and those that would not.. Later in life my wife and I took diving lessons and again you could easily identify those not "at home" in the water. I always wondered why a poor swimmer would want to certify as a Diver. Some did so successfully...and became much better swimmers for it. My wife and I had a number of wonderful dive cruises in the Bahamas....we both agreed snorkeling was much more fun. You could get to greater depths with SCUBA but everything was just gray/blue at depths. Snorkeling in 30' of water was much more colorful. Our deeper dives involved contact with some scary wildlife...Moray Eels, Sharks, and Barracuda.
I was enrolled in summer swim classes at the local YMCA by my parents. I recall getting the Polliwog, Guppy, and Minnow badges before the summer and the classes ended. I spent some time swimming in lakes later as a Boy Scout.
