Jim, one of our users from York, shared this experience…
I still remember the first time I stepped into a swimming pool. I was about 10 years at the time, an awkward age and space, neither a teenager nor a small child. There was no Internet in those days and the only impressions I had of swimming were based on watching swimmers and divers on TV during the Olympics and in movies. I especially remembered Matt Biondi, the graceful diver who could do a graceful double pirouette before jumping into the pool in a straight line, like a laser cutting through steel.
As I gingerly put my big toe into the pool, all my thoughts of heroic jumps had evaporated. Here I was, at the threshold of land and water, much like Neil Armstrong on the steps of his spaceship, before his jump. All around there were other kids splashing about, instructors coaching them, scary blubbery women from the apartment building chatting away, and my dad standing in the water, looking at me with a grin. “Cmon over son, the water ain’t cold”. I put my foot onto the swimming pool steps, and as soon as I had put both my legs in the water, to my horror I realized the water wasn’t as warm as I had thought it would be.
And then she caught my eye.
The cute little girl from school was standing at the other end of the pool watching me coyly. Oh no, I thought, it’s the same girl whose family, just transferred from London, the one with the high cheekbones and small nose, the perfect shoulders and disarming smile. Time for me to make a good first impression. And then I saw them from the corner of my eye. The heavy footed chubby Pancho and his elder brother, chasing each other around the pool, heading, towards me! Before I could say a word, I realized Pancho was headed straight for my end of the pool to escape his brother. I looked at Pancho, and the cute girl, and finally my exasperated Dad, and…jumped! And there was water all over, cool blue water, water in my ears and eyes, water around my arms and legs, water in my nose. I wildly gyrated around, like Shiva’s dance, and finally rose to the surface. The world around me was the same, but it had changed. Pancho’s brother had him by the ears. My dad had a relieved and happy look as he walked over towards me. And the girl – she knew! She knew that I had conquered my fears and was now a bonafide cool dude.
Yes!!!
My eyes stung and my nose ran for a couple of days, and it took me a few years to do a good front stroke and back stroke, but I will never forget the smell of the air and the taste of the water on the day I finally entered the swimming pool.
