Saturday, February 7, 2009

Swim Lessons

I have never been fond of the idea of swimming. Ever since I was a kid I just didn't quite trust being completely enveloped by water to then emerge alive and breathing.
As you can imagine, I was teased considerably (mostly be my siblings) for never learning how to swim. When I say I don't know how to swim, let me clarify that I dont know how to swim. I can't do the doggy paddle, the floating in water thing or really being submerged at all. It just plain terrifies me. I decided it might be a good idea to conquer a fear and build upon my self-esteem a little bit. After many hours of "shopping around" I signed up for swim lessons. I know... terrifying right?
Today was my first day at 7:45 on a Saturday morning! Now that's dedication! When I first got there, I'll admit I kinda questioned what I was thinking. I was first instructed to put my face under water and blow bubbles. I was pretty pleased with myself until my instructor, Ezra, said, "Let's try to go a little longer, about 10 seconds worth." Is he crazy?! I can't even say how unnatural "breathing" under water is. ::shudder:: Once I kinda got use to that, I was surprised how quickly I was able to progress. During that 1 hour I was able to float on my stomach while blowing bubbles in the water. With the assistance of a kick board I could swim on my belly blowing bubbles once again. At the very end of the lesson I was full on swimming on my back! I swam about 5 laps on my back until the session was over.
Dude, I rock! I am so proud of myself and can hardly believe it. If anyone would have told me a year ago what I would have accomplished today in such a short session I would have laughed... LAUGHED right in thier face.
So I have additional swim lessons over the next few Saturdays and I am very excited about it... although I still hope I don't die. That would be a major bummer.

5 comments:

Jess said...

Way to go! That's incredibly awesome - I'm so proud!

Kristen said...

Yea, you! Way to be awesome. I'm proud of you!

Becky Knowles said...

You are pretty much the coolest person I know. I am so proud of you. I was always sad growing up that you didn't want to go swimming with us. :) Now we can swim laps on our backs for hours on end! You are amazing.

mikkiel said...

Hey thanks for the informative post, Swimming classes should be something that a person takes up when young. Well I guess an adult can also take up swimming lessons. Never too young to try!

Kevin and Pauliese's New Little Family! said...

Way to go!!! I'm so proud of you!!! Soon you'll be swimming like a pro. I can't imagine facing a fear as big as that, I'm terrified of those little crabs on the beach (I know, laugh all you want) and I can't imagine standing remotely close to one let alone letting it crawl all over me. You're my hero!