8 years old in 1959, Tampa Florida. My mom dropped me off at a small lake where I was to be taught to swim. 4 teenage teachers, 24 eight year old. A floating dock 30 yards out. They herded us out where we thrashed or dog paddled our way to the float. Mass carnage, vomiting, all survived. Recover and repeat. Week later I could swim. 10 years later i was getting my lifeguard certification in Western Oklahoma. We had a substitute teacher, an air force sargent who was also my occasional judo instructor. He would tread water in the deep end of the pool and say “help…help” in a quiet voice. One at a time we would try to “rescue” him, getting behind and controlling him. What it worked out to be was repeated near death experiences for me and my classmates. It was the best thing he could have done. I left knowing I would never try to rescue anyone bigger than 90 pounds…and that wouldn’t be easy either. And I had new found fear of the water. It is not a bad thing to respect the water.
8 years old in 1959, Tampa Florida. My mom dropped me off at a small lake where I was to be taught to swim. 4 teenage teachers, 24 eight year old. A floating dock 30 yards out. They herded us out where we thrashed or dog paddled our way to the float. Mass carnage, vomiting, all survived. Recover and repeat. Week later I could swim. 10 years later i was getting my lifeguard certification in Western Oklahoma. We had a substitute teacher, an air force sargent who was also my occasional judo instructor. He would tread water in the deep end of the pool and say “help…help” in a quiet voice. One at a time we would try to “rescue” him, getting behind and controlling him. What it worked out to be was repeated near death experiences for me and my classmates. It was the best thing he could have done. I left knowing I would never try to rescue anyone bigger than 90 pounds…and that wouldn’t be easy either. And I had new found fear of the water. It is not a bad thing to respect the water.