A Fish Out of Water

While most folks are cooling off in pools, lakes or oceans I’m the faithful bag-watcher left sunning on the shore. Why? Because I can’t swim. Did you know that I join an alarming 37 percent of American adults that don’t know how to swim, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Many people find it hard to believe but seriously, I’m 34 years old, have lived in Kinnelon nearly half my life surrounded by beautiful lakes, and admittedly I cannot swim. Yes, I can certainly float and tread water (somewhat), but a swimmer I am not. It wasn’t that I was deprived of opportunities either because my brothers and I were enrolled in YMCA classes at a very young age, friends have tried to teach me but I just never picked it up. I read somewhere that most land-logged adults are subconsciously traumatized by water, that something in their childhood triggered an innate fear and as they get older, it gets worse with the realization of mortality. 

For me, it was a summer evening at my cousin’s new pool. All the kids were playing and as I was walking around in what I thought to be an evenly shallow pool, all of a sudden I felt like the ground gave way under me. What I didn’t know at the time was that the pool starts out as 3 feet on one end and then drastically dips to a depth of 8 feet on the other without a gradual decline.  As I was panicking to stay afloat and gasping for air, my extended family was enjoying their dinner unaware that I thought I was going to drown. Luckily, one of my older cousins looked over and saw that I might need help and pulled me up to catch a breath. It’s funny how until I recently thought about it, I had never recognized that event as being the one that kept me out of the water…until now. 

A few weekends ago, I completed my first triathlon relay and it was exhilarating!  The experience truly inspired me to want to do one on my own without the limitation of not being able to swim. That was my wake up call – that’s when I was determined to learn not only so I could complete a multisport event but also for practical purposes and survival. So I took the first step and signed up for lessons at the local pool. As they say, it’s never too late to learn and I'm excited to finally overcome this liquid obstacle. Over the course of the next few months I will document my progress - successes, failures, feelings and all. If there’s anyone out there in the same boat, I hope this series will help inspire you to take your first dip in the deep end as well!