I loved swimming when I was a kid. I just hated swim lessons. I couldn't float very well, and this was during the years of my coke-bottle glasses, so I was blind as a bat and often swam out of my lane or in the wrong direction (not kidding). I remember locking myself in the bathroom at home before it was time to leave for the pool, crying and begging my mom not to make me go. I also remember hanging onto the side of the pool during lessons, pretending I was asleep so the teacher wouldn't make me swim when it was my turn. I don't know if she really thought I was asleep, or if she just didn't want to deal with me, but sometimes it worked!
Consequently, I never was a strong swimmer. This never really bothered me much since I rarely went in the water as I got older. I've had issues with my back and feet since I was pretty young, and doctors always recommended swimming to help it. But I never gave it serious thought since Salinas has gross pools and cold weather. Then two years ago, my uncle drowned in the off the coast of Florida.
My uncle had serious health issues that contributed to his drowning (and he wasn't wearing a life jacket), but that's when I started to seriously think about becoming a stronger swimmer. I still wasn't willing to brave the Salinas pools, but when I saw that a pool near my apartment in San Jose was offering a two-week session at a decent price, I signed up.
I was a little nervous, worried that I would utterly humiliate myself. But my fears disappeared once the other student (it's just two of us) stated that he could never figure out how to breathe through his NOSE while swimming. At least I know that when you take a breath, you use your MOUTH! I actually enjoyed the class, and the instructor really gave me some great things to work on. Apparently I've been kicking underwater my whole life, but you're supposed to have your legs at least break the surface. Who knew? Also, I guess my arm sort of stops mid-air when I take a breath. Ha- I'm sure that's funny to watch. So I'm working on keeping my arms moving continuously.
I'm already sore from one lesson, but it's a good sore! I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. My goal for the class is to be able to swim a decent enough freestyle that I could join a gym and go for lap swim without looking like a total klutz. We'll see...
