With the very first paragraph I was immersed in the smell of cold chlorinated water, the splashing and squealing of the local swimming pool, the tiled cubicles of the high school shower room and the hiding of my chubby naked body from the other girls. This post brought back so many memories, Rebecca! Thank you for your always excellent writing. I invariably feel such empathy ( and sympathy) reading your stories. And this sentence is perhaps one of the saddest I have ever read - because it is an all-too-common thing: "[ My teacher was ] an unsympathetic woman with little aptitude for teaching and an undisguised dislike for children." I believe there is a special place in hell reserved for people like her. I had the same teacher, and because of her, I became the best teacher in the world. Ha ha ha ha! It's true.
I am possibly a marginally ‘better’ swimmer but I think we get similar enjoyment from the experience. Thinking of @PrueBatten and her love of Tasmanian waters. Some people are real water babies. The rest of us will just have to make do. Hugs. 🤗🤗
I must have skipped over this one the first time round but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. I love that you haven’t bothered to let ‘them’ tell you how swimming is done. I love your determination and steadfastness to keep at it no matter what others say or chuckle. And I love your observation that at the beach, everyone is able to enjoy their very own version of being in the water. And no one judges. Perfect! Thanks for the lovely story!
For several summers when I was in high school/college, I worked on the lawn-mowing team for the town of Stratford, Connecticut. It was searing, sweaty work, commencing at 6am. But I was free by 2pm, at which point I would plunge into our public pool and swim a mile. Which took for freaking ever. But I could hear the people, poolside, asking "How long has he been in there?" and "I guess he's part dolphin" and "doesn't he have anything better to do?" Answers: 1. 45 minutes; 2. Correct--my appetite for fresh fish; 3. Well, I was only 18 at the time, so, no. Thanks for inviting us in for a swim!
Good for you. Your childhood "lessons" would've left me never wanting to enter the water again. Even after my fairly decent swimming lessons, I still can't swim much above a dog paddle either. Don't like that chlorine in my nose.
Once again, though, you have inspired me to write stories along this line. One my father told me about swimming in the Great Salt Lake. I've discovered it's quite true you can float in the lake without any effort or flotation devices whatsoever. His story involved a dare to swim from one beach beacon to another After swimming for what seemed like hours of getting none the closer, he told his friend he was going to see if he could touch the bottom. Indeed, he did. The water then came up to his waste and they walked the rest of the way.
Newsflash: If you move through the water without sinking, you can swim. Those who choose to offer unsolicited commentary on your form can take a hike.
When I was taking swimming lessons as a child, one of my teachers was my dear next-door neighbor. I was supposed to learn to dive, and was deathly afraid of doing so. She successfully bribed me to try by throwing coins in the pool and telling me I could keep them if I dived in for them. It worked!
This brought back so many happy memories of days with my brother. The first was when l learnt to swim my brother had given me strict instructionns not to get in the pool until he had changed,. I didn't at least I remembered to put my arm bands on, I just forgot to blow them up. The shallowest end of the pool was 6 foot and it was only the two of us there. I was in the middle by the time he came out I never looked back. What is wrong with doggie paddle, its a recognised swimming stroke xxxs
I love the water - from a deck chair. I've always hated getting wet or cold - or both. School swims always involved a mean teacher head to toe in fleece, frisking about with a whistle! Absolutely hated it. Like you though I've tried as an adult to do better, including a humiliating enrollment in 'Swimming for the Terribly Terrified' at age 28 lol! I'm totally over it now. YOU are impressive though - and love your Dad xo
I loved swimming and still do, but I had a similar experience from a teacher when I was about ten. Basically told me I was useless but, as I realise now, didn't bother to tell me how I could improve. I also love outdoor swimming, but once Covid struck I cancelled my gym membership. Will probably join another one, but that only has an indoor pool. That's why I need to dig a big hole in the garden and have an outdoor pool.
A fine telling, Rebecca! (If I left my remark at that, I fear you might feel just like Samuel Clemons. “When people praise me I’m afraid they won’t say enough.” 😂
Due to an odd family circumstance, I didn’t know how to swim when I began college. But the new nautitorium to replace its forerunner (now demolished) stood incomplete. So my “swimming test” consisted of answering one question. “Do you know how to swim”? As I did want to learn to swim, I replied “No.” When work was completed I was notified I could begin swimming lessons. So glad I didn’t wriggle off the hook.
To me, Rebecca, this post seemed to capture your younger struggles to become the swimmer you thought you needed to be. Reading how your father respected your abilities, just as they were, offers the mark of a supportive family. “Not enough,” is a difficult phrase with which to contend. Having an excess of heat in Tallahassee, I’d gladly offer that warmth if it made your summer’s beach days more comfy. All the best!
I'm so relieved, Rebecca. For a moment I thought you were going to tell us that you can't swim!
I remember learning to swim at the local YMCA. We were given various designations--guppies, minnows, sharks--depending on skill level and mastery. My parents had a family membership to a local country club (😬). Children had to prove their ability to tread water and swim a certain distance to be permitted in the "deep end." All of that went off without a hitch, and swim team experience later should have sealed the deal, but I still don't think of myself as much of a swimmer. I *can* swim, but I mostly dog paddle, because it's less like work!
Thanks for a delightful and memory-filled read, Rebecca! You have best dad, and the smiliest of smiles.
Enjoyed from the baby pool to the lovely swimming at the beach! I was raised by a WWII sailor, in a beach town. When I was 7 years old, the family was at the local swimming pool. My dad decided it was time for me to learn to swim, and he tossed me in the pool. Mom insisted he was watching me, and close by, it felt like he had thrown me into the middle of the deep end of the pool. I immediately began to dog paddle, to keep my little head above water. I was so upset!! To be fair, that was how 𝙝𝙚 learned to swim. It worked, I guess. But all I ever learned to do, was dog paddle. I did body surf with my brother, who, speaking of laughing, did a lot of it when I “wiped out”.. anyway, didn’t mean to tell my life story here. Your experience just triggered memory I had, about swimming. Thanks for your story, and also, your dad sounds like such a nice man!! 🥰
Soooooooo proud of you, Rebecca. Swimming is swimming. The style is immaterial. It’s being suspended safely in the water that’s the thing. Go you! And as for your bitch of a teacher - I hope when she swam (probably couldn’t) that her goggles filled up, her flippers fell off and she lost her locker key at the deep end!
Sweet. Funny how one can love the water yet not have technical command of it. That would be me too.
With the very first paragraph I was immersed in the smell of cold chlorinated water, the splashing and squealing of the local swimming pool, the tiled cubicles of the high school shower room and the hiding of my chubby naked body from the other girls. This post brought back so many memories, Rebecca! Thank you for your always excellent writing. I invariably feel such empathy ( and sympathy) reading your stories. And this sentence is perhaps one of the saddest I have ever read - because it is an all-too-common thing: "[ My teacher was ] an unsympathetic woman with little aptitude for teaching and an undisguised dislike for children." I believe there is a special place in hell reserved for people like her. I had the same teacher, and because of her, I became the best teacher in the world. Ha ha ha ha! It's true.
I am possibly a marginally ‘better’ swimmer but I think we get similar enjoyment from the experience. Thinking of @PrueBatten and her love of Tasmanian waters. Some people are real water babies. The rest of us will just have to make do. Hugs. 🤗🤗
Ha!
I must have skipped over this one the first time round but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. I love that you haven’t bothered to let ‘them’ tell you how swimming is done. I love your determination and steadfastness to keep at it no matter what others say or chuckle. And I love your observation that at the beach, everyone is able to enjoy their very own version of being in the water. And no one judges. Perfect! Thanks for the lovely story!
For several summers when I was in high school/college, I worked on the lawn-mowing team for the town of Stratford, Connecticut. It was searing, sweaty work, commencing at 6am. But I was free by 2pm, at which point I would plunge into our public pool and swim a mile. Which took for freaking ever. But I could hear the people, poolside, asking "How long has he been in there?" and "I guess he's part dolphin" and "doesn't he have anything better to do?" Answers: 1. 45 minutes; 2. Correct--my appetite for fresh fish; 3. Well, I was only 18 at the time, so, no. Thanks for inviting us in for a swim!
Good for you. Your childhood "lessons" would've left me never wanting to enter the water again. Even after my fairly decent swimming lessons, I still can't swim much above a dog paddle either. Don't like that chlorine in my nose.
Once again, though, you have inspired me to write stories along this line. One my father told me about swimming in the Great Salt Lake. I've discovered it's quite true you can float in the lake without any effort or flotation devices whatsoever. His story involved a dare to swim from one beach beacon to another After swimming for what seemed like hours of getting none the closer, he told his friend he was going to see if he could touch the bottom. Indeed, he did. The water then came up to his waste and they walked the rest of the way.
LOL
Newsflash: If you move through the water without sinking, you can swim. Those who choose to offer unsolicited commentary on your form can take a hike.
When I was taking swimming lessons as a child, one of my teachers was my dear next-door neighbor. I was supposed to learn to dive, and was deathly afraid of doing so. She successfully bribed me to try by throwing coins in the pool and telling me I could keep them if I dived in for them. It worked!
This brought back so many happy memories of days with my brother. The first was when l learnt to swim my brother had given me strict instructionns not to get in the pool until he had changed,. I didn't at least I remembered to put my arm bands on, I just forgot to blow them up. The shallowest end of the pool was 6 foot and it was only the two of us there. I was in the middle by the time he came out I never looked back. What is wrong with doggie paddle, its a recognised swimming stroke xxxs
Loved this one more the second time round as I know you better - your precise wit is so keen. Such a great post, RH.
I love the water - from a deck chair. I've always hated getting wet or cold - or both. School swims always involved a mean teacher head to toe in fleece, frisking about with a whistle! Absolutely hated it. Like you though I've tried as an adult to do better, including a humiliating enrollment in 'Swimming for the Terribly Terrified' at age 28 lol! I'm totally over it now. YOU are impressive though - and love your Dad xo
I loved swimming and still do, but I had a similar experience from a teacher when I was about ten. Basically told me I was useless but, as I realise now, didn't bother to tell me how I could improve. I also love outdoor swimming, but once Covid struck I cancelled my gym membership. Will probably join another one, but that only has an indoor pool. That's why I need to dig a big hole in the garden and have an outdoor pool.
A fine telling, Rebecca! (If I left my remark at that, I fear you might feel just like Samuel Clemons. “When people praise me I’m afraid they won’t say enough.” 😂
Due to an odd family circumstance, I didn’t know how to swim when I began college. But the new nautitorium to replace its forerunner (now demolished) stood incomplete. So my “swimming test” consisted of answering one question. “Do you know how to swim”? As I did want to learn to swim, I replied “No.” When work was completed I was notified I could begin swimming lessons. So glad I didn’t wriggle off the hook.
To me, Rebecca, this post seemed to capture your younger struggles to become the swimmer you thought you needed to be. Reading how your father respected your abilities, just as they were, offers the mark of a supportive family. “Not enough,” is a difficult phrase with which to contend. Having an excess of heat in Tallahassee, I’d gladly offer that warmth if it made your summer’s beach days more comfy. All the best!
I'm so relieved, Rebecca. For a moment I thought you were going to tell us that you can't swim!
I remember learning to swim at the local YMCA. We were given various designations--guppies, minnows, sharks--depending on skill level and mastery. My parents had a family membership to a local country club (😬). Children had to prove their ability to tread water and swim a certain distance to be permitted in the "deep end." All of that went off without a hitch, and swim team experience later should have sealed the deal, but I still don't think of myself as much of a swimmer. I *can* swim, but I mostly dog paddle, because it's less like work!
Thanks for a delightful and memory-filled read, Rebecca! You have best dad, and the smiliest of smiles.
Enjoyed from the baby pool to the lovely swimming at the beach! I was raised by a WWII sailor, in a beach town. When I was 7 years old, the family was at the local swimming pool. My dad decided it was time for me to learn to swim, and he tossed me in the pool. Mom insisted he was watching me, and close by, it felt like he had thrown me into the middle of the deep end of the pool. I immediately began to dog paddle, to keep my little head above water. I was so upset!! To be fair, that was how 𝙝𝙚 learned to swim. It worked, I guess. But all I ever learned to do, was dog paddle. I did body surf with my brother, who, speaking of laughing, did a lot of it when I “wiped out”.. anyway, didn’t mean to tell my life story here. Your experience just triggered memory I had, about swimming. Thanks for your story, and also, your dad sounds like such a nice man!! 🥰
Soooooooo proud of you, Rebecca. Swimming is swimming. The style is immaterial. It’s being suspended safely in the water that’s the thing. Go you! And as for your bitch of a teacher - I hope when she swam (probably couldn’t) that her goggles filled up, her flippers fell off and she lost her locker key at the deep end!