I am 37 and I can’t swim. Main reason for this is that I never learnt at school, despite 10yrs in the shallow end trying (its no fun learning with 6-7yr olds when you are 14) I ended up loathing trying to learn and, after one experience when I nearly drowned in a swimming pool (I had to be rescued), feared it.

I am quite happy I can’t swim but my wife loves swimming so I’d like to try again so we can go to the beach or a pool and do something together.

Before you say “jump in a deep enough pool and you’ll naturally swim on instinct” I would like to point out that is how I nearly died, when a teacher thought that might work (starting to swim from the deep end of a pool). So I know that doesn’t work, and the feeling of coming up for the last time still haunts me over 20yrs later.

Just typing and thinking about getting in a swimming pool fills me with dread, so be kind! I think I’ll be ok to go through it but I wonder if anyone else has any experiences like mine.

Thanks
Rob

There are a couple of people i work with who couldn’t swim. They went to adults only classes in their local pools. Might be worth checking to see if anywhere close to you does that.

Go to your local pool and book some private lessons would be my advice.

We did this with my daughter a month or two back – she had the basics but needed technique.

There’s less pressure, one to one and you can go at your own pace.

Her lessons were 20 minutes at a time which actually was long enough for her but you coudl do a ‘public swim’ straight after to practice if you wanted to.

Main thing is to practice though so plan to go to the pool at least once between lessons to practice what you’ve learned

And don’t be embarrassed!

Mrs file was terrified of water and can’t swim.

I booked us a small hotel when on holiday last year with a very nice and quiet pool.

Every day when we came back from what we were doing, we’d chill out by the pool. If she fancied it, she could get in and I’d give her a few pointers, no pressure.

This seemed to work a lot better than turning up at a busy pool where she’d dread going (even the day leading up to it would be tough) and it was too forced once we got there.

It seemed to work better that a pool was handy, so that she could just go for it when her head felt right. Having to travel to one means you could have talk yourself out of it by the time you actually get there.

She’s no longer anywhere near as scared of water, and we even managed a few breadths of the pool 🙂

Privacy, no pressure, free to do it at her own pace…

Teach adults with severe autism to swim, eventually ending up in the sea so it can be done, easily in fact. Is your wife not up for helping you? Stand/kneel in the shallow end practice the arms until you’ve got it nailed, breast stroke not doggy paddle, its all you’ll ever need.

Is there a pool with a decent pub nearby, treat yourself afterwards so scaring yourself shitless

Go to your local pool and see if thay have adult swim classes, get a proper instructor who will help you overcome your fear and have fun.

Swimming teaching has changed quite a lot since we were kids.

In particular, there are a few methods of swim teaching that are more based on understanding how your body floats in the water, rather than kicking up and down the pool endlessly with a float. There are also teachers who take a hands on approach, guiding your body into the right shape. All of this is designed for people who don’t intuitively grasp swimming, which to some extent is most of us, but for adult non-swimmers may be even more true.

The old school kicking up and down with a float type lessons still exist, and will obviously work for some people, but the one size fits all approach seems to fail people who just don’t develop an intuitive understanding of the water that way.

The downside of fancy pants swimming lessons is they tend to be small group or 1:1 and so quite expensive. The upside is that if you have been failed by traditional lessons, you may have more luck at actually being able to swim.

The most obvious one to try would be the Shaw Method, see the link below:
http://www.artofswimming.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=64&Itemid=296

There are also special ‘learn to swim’ camps, where you go away for a week, and they guarantee you’ll be swimming by the end of the week, with teaching from people who specialise in adult non swimmers, but I have no idea how successful they actually are, or what the tuition is like. They aren’t cheap either.

Where do you live? I can ask for any recommendations for teachers from swimming people?

Oh, and whatever you do, if you have a worry about being rescued or whatever, do something where the teachers are in the pool. Stupid policy at our local pool is that teachers can only go in the pool with people in a one to one lesson. Makes no sense.

I didn’t learn to swim until my mid-20’s.
I was in a similar situation that I hated going on holiday and watching everyone jumping into the pool, while I hovered around wishing that I could ge in for a swim…
I was never very confident when we had lessons at school and the ‘just get on with it’ attitude didn’t help.

I booked lessons at Parkside Pool in Cambridge and think it was one of the best things I have ever done.
I am still not massively confident in water, but can happily go for a swim for exercise or jump in the pool on holiday to cool off and do a few lengths.

Just get something booked in your area and committ to it. I dithered for ages, when I should have just erm, taken the plunge!
Good luck.

I did it. I cannot remember exactly my age but I was over 30 and absolutley terrified of the water. I joined an adult swimming class in our local sports centre. There was quite a collection of people there, some wanting to improve their swimming and some who, like me, just couldn’t swim at all.

The teacher was brilliant, instantly spotted I was a bit scared and took me aside to have an encouraging word before easing me into it (she said afterwards that I was pail and shaking and she’d never had anyone quite so bad).

I basically went from being terrified to being able to swim a few strokes without aids in 3 lessons. I couldn’t believe it – all those lessons at school (and attempts to skive out of them), the being chucked in the deep end etc and no one ever had managed to get me to swim before.

So yes, I have an experience like you, managed to over come my fear and can actually now swim. I cannot say I ever learn to love swimming, but I still feel proud with myself for learning and still get a buzz thinking back.

traildog – Member

I basically went from being terrified to being able to swim a few strokes without aids in 3 lessons. I couldn’t believe it – all those lessons at school (and attempts to skive out of them), the being chucked in the deep end etc and no one ever had managed to get me to swim before.

So yes, I have an experience like you, managed to over come my fear and can actually now swim. I cannot say I ever learn to love swimming, but I still feel proud with myself for learning and still get a buzz thinking back.

Yeah. This was pretty much me too. Couldn’t quite believe that something that had seemed so impossible to achieve had been sorted within the space of a few weeks.

Some really encouraging comments there, thanks. You think you are the only person who can’t swim but it seems there are more than you imagine!

I like the idea of one to one training.

My wife can’t help me as she’s not a great teacher having not much patience and more importantly I want to surprise her.

I am in Huddersfield BTW, but work in Leeds with flexi time so could finish early and go to somewhere in south Leeds or along M62 corridor.

she said afterwards that I was pail and shaking and she’d never had anyone quite so bad)

.

I hear that with monotonous regularity but back to the swimming thread.

robdob there is bound to be somwhere around there that can help, good luck with it.

I was 23 before I had the courage to go for lessons. I signed up with my local council pool.

It was quite daunting turning up the first day, the instructor was fab. Group size tended to be 5-6. Afterwards i was allowed to stay in the pool for as long as i liked to practice.

We covered the basics, like putting your face in the water. Sounds trivial, but I hate water hitting me in the face! Treading water etc. Each lesson included one-one time.

I loved it, i now have a competent front crawl and breast stroke with proper technique. I was starting on Back stroke when i decided to give up my place to someone that really needed it.

Go for it, you won’t regret it.

Yes, I’ve done this BUT I have not been near water since. I absolutely hate water and even struggle with riding across bridges as well as driving on the Severn Bridge.

To be honest, unless you’re intending to go near water semi-regularly then, ime, I wondered why I bothered. Probably haven’t explained that well but hope you get the gist!

Thanks all for the tips and support. I’m going to look into local classes and see what there is.

Rob, I have six half hour lessons already paid for when I was looking to improve my technique – I have since changed pools and never used them.

The instructor is excellent and teaches all abilities. You can have them if you want, donation to forum/charity up to you; the pool is a 25m in Leeds City Centre.

Email in profile etc.

I could ask my dad to throw you in the deep end if you like.

If you have the cashola and there is an instructor near you I have heard good things about both the Total Immersion and Swim Smooth systems. Although they are aimed at improvers (triathletes mainly) I think it would be a good way to learn how to swim as everything is broken down into stages so you can just concentrate on 1 thing at a time.

To echo all the comments above, find a local adults class. Thought it would be embarrassing, but my local class was very supportive and after 5 months can now swim a mile (previously couldn’t swim a width).

I’m not sure private lessons would have been good value for me, it’s all about practicing with someone to give a few tips.

bearnecessities – that is very generous – thanks. Email sent!

Replied 😀

I know a man who learned to swim specifically to complete an Ironman. He swore by his local pool’s classes first and the improvers classes with his tri club afterwards.

If he could do it at 50 and successfully complete an Ironman then so can you. Just have a chat with whichever coach you choose about their methods so you both know what the expectations are before you start.

70% of the world is covered in water. Not knowing how to swim means most of this world is off limits to you. That’s how I look at it. I lived by the sea for the first 21 years of my life and cannot imagine what my life would have been without being able to swim in it. I desperately miss it now (can’t afford membership to a swimming pool and there are no council facilities close by and the sea is **** freezing and has a shitload of massive rocks in it in this country as I found out after jumping in it this year).

Good luck with it. If you learn how to do it then keep doing it. Swimming is one of the few physical activities you can do for the rest of your life. It’s also great physio!

http://www.swimsmooth.com/

Used to teach swimming to kids, special needs and adults.

As others have said find yourself a coach/teacher. You need to trust this person therefore if you think you may not like them or their methods keep looking.

One of my successes was a work college who at 50+ had never learned to swim after the usual near death experience. He wanted to take his grand kids on holiday and aware of holiday pool dangers wanted to overcome both his fear of water and be able to swim with them.

We started off just sitting by the pool he was so scared. We did however progress to him being able to swim a width of our local pool within 10 session. Happy man(men) 😆

Is there such a thing as natural buoyancy? I can swim to a very poor level but find it very exhausting trying to keep afloat. I am reasonably fit otherwise and don’t seem to get the same level of exhaustion doing virtually any other form of exercise. My Wife however can swim like a fish with hardly any effort. She tried to get me to float by holding me up in the pool but directly she took her hands away I plummeted to the bottom of the pool! is it psychological?

Is there such a thing as natural buoyancy?

Yes – you have an inbuilt buoyancy device – they’re called your lungs. Keep them full of air and you’ll float no problems. When you panic you exhale and then sink.

That would explain why my legs go down first then!

^^ This. When you’re scuba diving, one of the things you learn is to control your depth by controlling your breathing (more air in the lungs –> more bouyant).

Also – fat is less dense than muscle. So leaner folk tend more towards sinking and fatter folk tend to float better. That’s just a generalisation, but could be a factor if you’re racing-snake lean!

Edit: if your legs are sinking, your balance in the water is off. Have a link 🙂 http://www.swimsmooth.com/swimming-balance.html

MrsHora cant swim. Weird as her school HAS/had a proper pool. So she immediately made sure hora jnr got lessons aged 2.

Robdob- dont feel embarrassed, you’ll only show your greeness for less than a few lessons to strangers then you’ll pick it up etc and be off.

Whenever I go on holiday abroad I swim in the sea first thing (of course make sure about rip-tides/currents). Its amazingly relaxing exercise first thing.

Dont put the armbands on your legs, as youll drown, an army pt instructor told me that as he had to rescue a squaddie who did that.

This is a nine month old thread which has been spam-resurrected, however it looks like it’s something worth discussing again. I wanted to add to this,

Is there such a thing as natural buoyancy? I can swim to a very poor level but find it very exhausting trying to keep afloat. I am reasonably fit otherwise and don’t seem to get the same level of exhaustion doing virtually any other form of exercise. My Wife however can swim like a fish with hardly any effort. She tried to get me to float by holding me up in the pool but directly she took her hands away I plummeted to the bottom of the pool! is it psychological?

This is me, exactly. At school I struggled like hell with swimming lessons. As an adult, my partner’s tried to encourage me as you describe but even with a deep breath I plummet as soon as I’m unsupported. Forward momentum helps a bit and I could probably breast-stroke a width, by which time I’m knackered and have backache from the exertion and the curving of my body.

Maybe I need to eat more cake.

Dont put the armbands on your legs, as youll drown

Yeah, I discovered that one the hard way as a kid too.

learn how to float, floating is amazing! 🙂 and really easy, once you understand that you have to commit to putting you head right back or face fully into the water, looking straight up or straight down(this makes your legs come up to water level naturally). You need to relax too, tensing up doesn’t help. Once you can do that you just need to flap your legs and arms and you’ll start moving! 😀

I have been reading some articles about this on The Guardian web site – there is a swimming blog. What seems to be good is taking it really really slowly at first, in warm water, shallow pool, until you are very happy being in the water, wet face etc. There are some specific schools mentioned – maybe one is near you.

Cougar-cake may indeed be the answer-sort of encouraged that I’m not the only one who finds it difficult, really envy the torpedo-like people I see in pools.