How did you learn to swim?

[MermaidSaku]

Since there is a post for panic issues while swimming i thought why not make this thread and ask. How did you learn to swim?

I learned how to swim when i was 4. My baby sitter at the time had a group of kids to teach how to swim. Even at 4 years old. i find i was quite smart. When the babysitter said she would teach us how to swim i figured she meant she would teach us how to kick and so on. But, had no idea what she had in mind. Lol!
She asked me "Do you want to go first to learn how to swim?" I nodded and she threw me in the 5ft side of the pool. LOOOL!!! When i opened my eyes in the water the first thing my mind shot to was "Shark!!!! I'm so scared there is a shark!!" And that is exactly what i said when came up to the surface of the water. She then replied to me " Ohhhhh....There is a shark huh? Well i guess if you don't want to die you have to swim!" Lol I went back under again and came back up then screamed "I don't know how!!!" she said "Well does the shark care!?!!" and so i calmed myself down on my own thinking i would fight the shark if i had to but, i strangely and unexpectedly learned how to swim.And swam all the way back to the shallow end. Till this day i hold that memory close. My babysitter helped me get over a fear and she taught me 3 lessons. xD

That there will always be a strength or a new talent i have that i am not aware of,..and well basically I am stronger than i think i am. Also there are no sharks in the pool although there are many in life. hahaha! : ) In the end I ended up loving Hammerhead sharks some how.
After that in my pre-teen years. i went to school to be a junior life guard for a summer. They had me do the test in a 10f-15ft pool which was a little scary it was the first time since i was 4 i went under without wanting to but i still passed with flying colors it was awesome! : D


Share your story about how you learned to swim i would love to know! ^^

[Aquatarian]

^ Awww that's kind of cute. lol Your babysitter must have been a serious badass! Haha!

I learned to swim when I was five or six I think.I went to a couple different pools but ended up sticking to one closer to my house. I learned at the same time as my older sister. I even think I surpassed her at one point too. lol
There is one thing I will always remember though, I learned in a small group of kids. The group I was in also had a pair of twins with red hair and one of them was named "Ariel" she was obsessed with The Little Mermaid and thought she was a mermaid too, but her parents just weren't telling her something... haha Dang! I can't believe I remember that. xD

[mermaid hannah]

i learned to swim when i was four as well. i loved the water so much even though i had never swam before. on the first day of lessons they were taking roll call and after i said herei jumped in the pool. haha silly me. after two years of lessons i was swimming at a lesson ten level. i think im a pretty good swimmer, haha but ill always remember that day.

[melbel1023]

I was about four when I learned how to swim, but I don't 100% remember it (My mom told me the story). I watched my older brother swim in my parent's pool a lot, he did a lot of diving and freestyle moves and I was jealous because I had to wear water-wingies lol.
One day I went to the pool with my brother, ripped off the wingies, and freestyle swam across the pool! My mom yelled at my brother for letting me swim without the wingies, but she got over it when we saw me swimming (rather ungracefully, I'm sure) across a 6' deep pool.
Since then, I've always been a usually strong swimmer =D

[New York Mermaid]

my dad use to take me to the little swimmers class for babies so ive been swimming before i could walk. My dad tells me i took to the water like nothing, i kept slipping out of his hands and off i went.. I guess u can say i taught myself. No swimming lessons just on my own.. When i hit the ocean for the first time it was in Puerto Rico.

[Little_Orca]

I have been in the water since I was 18 months old. I used to live on the coast and my mother believed that learning to swim was very important so her daughters learned early. She said I took to the water like a fish though. ;)

[HBMermaid_Angela]

When I was an infant one of my parents would be in the water and the other would throw me into the water. My parent in the water would let me stay under and basically kick myself to their near hands. Like I've said, I could swim before I could walk. My parents would have to write letters of permission for me to swim in the deep end of the pools when I was at summer camps cause I would complain about being bored in the shallow end.

[MermaidSaku]

I think it is so cool how we all learned how to swim so young. It's very unique and interesting lol. My grandmother was never taught how to swim. She's told me because her mother never allowed her to learn to swim ,she saw it as a must for me and her 2 daughters.

[taom]

I didn't learn to swim until I was 10 or 11 because I was so afraid of the water. I actually learned how to swim because I wanted to be a mermaid so much.

[mermaidwillow]

I learned how to swim when I was about five. My mum enrolled me in swim lessons with my older sister, because we have a small pool in the back yard and she had so much trouble keeping me out of it that she finally decided to let me take lessons so I could swim more often. I took to it like a fish, even though my teachers would always yell at me to kick with my legs apart. Even from a young age I was meant to be a mermaid! XD

[MermaidNerenia]

I was in swimming lessons from the time I was little to some time before Jr. High. I live in landlocked Ohio so there are not many oppertunities for ny open water swimming. I went t camp for years though and learned to dive off the boards there, swim across the lake, and swim out to the floating dock. You had to pass a swim test every year.

[AniaR]

I didnt learn to swim til I was 14 or so. Before that I always swam with a life jacket, or as I got older a flotation device. One day I just got pissed off that I couldnt swim so I started by floating a noodle (floating foam tube) in front of the dock. I'd jump of the dock onto the noodle. I'd keep doing that, then I'd throw it a little further each time, and eventually I learned to doggy paddle.

And I doggy paddled for like 9 years. LOL. I always had health issues that made swimming difficult. When I wanted a tail I worked my butt off to be more comfortable in the water and learn different strokes and how to float. :) Im still learning all the time

[MermaidSaku]

Any suggestions for teaching a grandmother how to swim Raina? xD She only gets into water she can stand in. O.o

[Mermaid Lorelei]

If you want to teach someone to swim, one of the best methods is to give them a floatation device of some sort in an area where they can still touch the ground. Have them work on their swimming in a place that allows them to grab onto their floaty or drop their feet immediatly to the ground. This will help to give them the confidence to try and kick without being in a dangerous place. Also, make sure there are always people around beginners. Safety is key, and it helps them with their fears.

And, if anyone's curious, I've been in the water since before I could walk. My mom was adament that I know how to swim, so she would swim in the backyard pool with me almost daily. Turns out I long for the water now whenever I'm not actually in it. And yes, 'Fish' has been a nickname of mine for years now.

[Capt Nemo]

Started at the Y at 5.

[Coradion]

Started when I was 2, then I had 13 years of competitive swimming and water polo starting when I was 5.

[Mermaid Photine]

I remember taking swimming lessons when I was really little, and putting my face in the water and talking with bubbles. We wore life vests (they must have been so tiny!) and jumped into the 6ft end of the pool. Oddly enough, I don't think I have ever properly learned how to do strokes. I just swim underwater of dog paddle. xD I also remember sitting on a rock at some lake and pretending I was Ariel. I must have been no older than four.

[RêveD'eau]

Lol I taught myself how to swim. My parents tried to put me in swimming lessons and I straight up refused. I told them I'm not a baby so I won't get in the baby pool, I wanted to be in the big pool with the other kids that knew how to swim. They gave up shortly after that and let me do my thing haha.

[Mermaid Sirena]

My parents have had me in the water sense I was only a few months old, I remember swimming all the time and always being enrolled in some kind of swim class or water camp through out the years. I started competitive swim when I was in the 6th grade and continued all the way though high school. I honestly don't know if I ever really 'learned' how to swim or if I just knew, from what I understand I was a very happy baby in the water.

[happyguava]

I actually had a really bad experience as a kid. My parents put me in swimming lessons when I was really young, and I had a real fear of putting my face in the water. I don't remember why, but it really scared me and my teacher was really rude about it. Yelled at me a lot, demanded I put my face in the water like the other kids. Then one day she'd had enough, she grabbed my head and pushed it underwater and held it there…

Needless to say, my parents were pretty angry and I didn't go back to swimming lessons. When I was 7, we had to go to swimming lessons as part of school. I was really embarrassed at not knowing how to do it, because I hadn't been in water since the incident when I was 3.

Luckily, I got put in good swimming lessons for most of my childhood after that and picked it up really easily. I've never been a competitive or fast swimmer, but my technique is good and that made mermaiding a really easy transition for me! I'm kind of proud that despite a moron teacher traumatising me at a really young age, I now get work as a swimming mermaid :)

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

My mother (and occasionally father) did parent and Me swimming lessons when I was an infant, getting me used to the water. Afterwards, I had regular child swimming lessons at the local YMCA until I completed their programs (I used to irritate the swim instructor, though, since I would cross my feet and "mermaid kick" while swimming a good distance beneath the surface instead of freestyle, backstroke, or breaststroke). I competed for one season once I reached "shark" level of competency, but I didn't like the new facilities and I've always shied away from sports and competition, so I only swam recreationally for some time after that. Then, in middle school, I had to do volunteer work as part of a schoolwide program, and so I volunteered as an assistant swim teacher for children of various ages. After the required volunteer time was up I began doing the same thing and getting paid, and after awhile, I got certified in cpr and first aid and lifeguarding, and began lifeguarding for the rest of my high school career and during breaks in the first year of college. It was in the lifeguarding course that i got very good at lap swimming and sidestroke in addition to treading water. It was also around this time that I started trying to get certified in SCUBA, though the first time I was still pretty young and didn't quite make the time limit on the final swimming test, and the second time I didn't complete my dives, and the third time in college I completed the dives, but my certification papers got lost in the mail somehow. I still am pretty bad at butterfly stroke, however... I just can't seem to get the hang of doing the kick and the arm stroke together, even though I love the dolphin kick almost as much as my made-up mermaid kick.

[ScheherazOdd]

My parents subscribed to the 'just throw her in the water and her instincts will kick in naturally' school of thought, so when I was about a year old my mum dropped me in a lake. Lo and behold, I was able to figure it out by myself. My parents tell me that I started out dolphin kicking and they had to teach me to swim the other way. They also had to teach me to hold my breath, which they did by blowing on my face right before dunking me under.

[Maple]

I've been swimming pretty much since I was a baby. I went to the 'Mommy and Me' swim classes before I could walk and my Mum states that I adored it and never cried; I thought it was great. I was swimming independently with no parent in the water with my by the time I was 3 and when I was in my pre-teens I did competitive swimming. While I mastered all 4 major strokes, it left me with one swimming speed: super fast! I do not know how to swim slowly or leisurely anymore. I get in the water and I have to motor! I upgraded to the competitor fin partly for that reason; it also forced me to have better form while swimming.

[Artisankatie]

My dad taught me to dog-paddle when I was a toddler in a caravan park once on holiday, then I had swimming lessons at school when I was five. I was always a water baby but it wasn't until we got a house with a pool, when I was about 7, that I started trying to do Ariel's Part Of Your World swimming-spin-upwards thing, and trying to swim like Ocean Girl (if you haven't seen it, it's an old Aussie kids' series about a girl (in human form but dolphin kicking) who can breathe underwater and talk to whales).
After that I competed all through high school, but that's a while ago :P
Ahh memories :D

[Nyx]

I think my mom taught me when I was a baby, then during elementary school everyone was in swimming classes (it was a private school) a little after that I was in that school's swimming team.
I stopped all classes/teams after elementary thought.
I kind of regret that D;. I have to relearn a lot of what I was able to do before.
Except for the dolphin kick, that's my all-time favorite way of swimming :>.

[Odette]

i love this question! i learned from ESTHER WILLIAMS!!
i would say that all the time. i took what she said in her movies and took it to heart when i was about 10. before hand it was from a swim school and my parents. ha ha!

[lasserine]

Always had a pool in the backyard.

[Siren of the Sea]

I don't honestly know. I guess we started being in the pool hanging onto someone and...just let go when we were ready? We have pictures of my bro in a baby-seat thingy with my mom watching him, when he was like...under one. So I guess we started getting wet pretty young.

[Gem Stone]

I can't remember exactly but I can give you the basics of what happened from what my mom told me. I was little (I didn't think I could talk yet, not sure about if I was walking or not) and we visited my grandad. As a family we went to my uncles house. He had a pool. My grandad picked me up and dropped me in. I sunk like a rock. My parents freaked out but my grandad said she rather learns to swim or grows gills. As you can see, we don't believe in sink or swim. We believe in swim or become a freaking fish.(my grandads words) After about thirty seconds of freaking out at the bottom of the pools, I started swimming and they couldn't get me to come out. They did, however, swim with me and never left me alone with my grandad again until I was seven.

[Sea Pearl]

I was an infant when I first started learning to swim. I do remember going to the pool with my parents when I was five and six and swimming in the shallow end, and then when I was in middle school in England I remember we used to go to the swimming baths every Friday for lessons.

[Mermaid Miel]

I would often visit the swimming pool from when I was a baby onwards... formal swim lessons started through Primary school at age 5, but as I had (undiagnosed at that point) Aspergers Syndrome I had more fun slipping underwater and seeing how long I could hold my breath for than listening to the instructor. When I finally started paying attention (age 7) I was soo far behind the rest of the class that my kicks were weak and I was the slowest in the class whenever we would race. :p

My strongest stroke was the doggy-paddle, until I taught myself the Dolphin Kick. I love being a mermaid, and now all that time practicing holding my breath is paying off. ;)

[Prince Calypso]

strangely enough i learned to swim casue my cousin told me there was a mermaid in the deep end of the pool and if i jumped in i would see her.
ialmost drowned thanks to that bastard
but then i figured if i moved my legs quickly enough i would get to the surface.
and when i got out that water lest just say i went all whitecap bay on his ass

[Amethyst]

My parents were both Sea Cadets when they were younger and my dad was in the Navy, so naturally when I was born I was taken into the water at a very early age :) They always say I could swim before I could walk! lol
I do remember one thing though, when I was wearing arm bands in the pool, not sure how old I was but I told my dad I didn't need my arm bands any more, I was certain I could swim properly without them, so he took them off and plonk, I hit the bottom of the pool! lol Obviously I wasn't 100% ready lol :D

[Mermaid Jewel]

I have a really boring story actually lol. I went to swimming lessons when I was younger, like 4-5, where I fell in love with the water. I remember they had a slide next to the pool and that would be the last thing we would do was go down the slide into the water and the water next to the water was like 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the pool for some reason, I guess now because it was next to the heater. I also remember having to watch a video about water safety a ton!

I was actually trained to be a swimmer, but I stopped right before I got to the point where the next step was joining a swim team. And I mean like I could swim 30 laps nonstop in the standard lap pool, which I couldn't do now lol. It's my goal to get back to that state of my swimming abilities, though the intense swim training helped me in mermaiding because I had to learn the dolphin kick for the butterfly stroke so I already knew how to do that ^.^

[Nemefish]

i learned how to swim in the ocean at age 4 or 5 because i lived in a tropical place near the beach when i was little and my mom loved to go to the beach so often. it just came natural to me. later on i learned how to swim like a pro cuz i took swimming lessons when i was like 7 or 8 :3

[Mermaid Rillia]

My mom actually had my uncle throw me into the deep end of the pool when i was around 4 years old. She didnt want to be the bad guy that terrified me. So when i finally kinda sank to the bottom, i pushed off the pool floor with the balls of my feet and started kicking. Low and behold i learned how to swim. Shortly after i was taught to doggy paddle by my mother. And it was then that i would start to dolphin kick and say i was mermaid. My mom would get so mad because she thought that i would tire myself out and drown. I really scared her when i taped my ankles together and jumped in the pool. XD of course I did this to get a rise out of her as i was a somewhat spiteful child. But when i was 7 I agreed to take swim lessons and I have loved the water ever since.

[Mermaasai]

Threw me in! good times eh?
I used to wrap/ties scarves around my legs and pretend to be a mermaid all the time.
My parents weren't ones to scare easily or scold, very hands off. As long as I didnt die or get seriously injured.. it was all fair in their minds.

[MermaidRaegan]

I went through a long line of different pools as a child, since my dogs always liked to attach my kiddie pools and blow up pools. -_- Dalmations like plastic, who knew? But basically my mom couldn't keep my out of puddles and bathtubs or any body of water for that matter since I started walking, so I've always had some sort of age appropriate swimmable thing since I was a baby. I used to come home from school and sit in the bathtub for hours pretending to be a mermaid. By the time my mom stuck me in swim classes I already knew how to swim and the teacher tried to stick me on a swim team, but I never liked all the strict forms and lap swimming.
I've been obsessed with mermaids since I was three, so around 7 or 8 I tied my legs together with a jump rope and taught myself how to dolphin kick, and I've been swimming that way ever since! Honestly, swimming any other way just feels awkward to me after 14 somethig years of swimming the exact same way. I made my first tail when I was 11, but it was barely swimmable so i just put it on in the bathtub and pretended I was Ariel. Kinda worked too since it was green and I have the exact same hair. XD
So now I'm pretty hooked, considering I'm in the middle of making an awesome clownfish tail and I live with a boyfriend who loves water as much as I do, so I'm hard pressed to get out of the river to even go to lecture.

[Ilonka]

I grew up in a sailboat and my dad would throw me over board, iv been in love with the sea since I can remember. Iv always taken my swimming to deeper levels, and my next step is cave diving, there are some awesome underwater caves here in Puerto Rico.

[sunrise]

I've been obsessed with water since my mom took me to swim lessons when I was a baby, so early that I actually tried to get in the water when I was being baptized. I've had so many weird moments around pools and lakes. It's always "jump in! get away from the shore!" I repeatedly jumped in my uncle's pool without water wings when I was two and three, flipped inner tubes at that house (I've been saved twice by my great uncle, and twice by my dad, just at this house) At this same house my second cousins taught me how to swim when I was eight, sort of a family thing. I remember thinking mean things because they were making me take such small steps when all I wanted to do was swim to the bottom. (I'm actually the one who wanted them to teach me. I was extremely jealous that they could swim to the bottom while I floated like the rafts, plus, those things were annoying. Had to track them down (not easy when they all belong to the house, and there are other little kids, and half of them popped the day before) then they hurt so bad) So I got mad, and my second cousins let me take them off. First thing I did was swim to the bottom, then hold myself below the ladder, then swim up for air, and repeat, for an hour XD. Then my parents broke down and got us one of those quick set pools, where my "friend" that we babysat all summer put me through "mermaid school" (all I wanted to do was swim, none of her silly games), and I've been swimming with my legs together ever since. (I still refuse to play games when I'm in the pool for the most part. I get bored and swim away to a corner to hold myself down and practice holding my breath XD

[Blondie]

I come from PA and there weren't any public swimming pools where I lived so I never really swam until I was three or four. The first time I was in a pool, I jumped off the stairs and started drowning because I thought it was much more shallow... My uncle had to pull me out :P

But after that I was pretty much on my own with learning. My parents would bring me to the pool almost every day once I moved to Florida later that year. And I just used my tube to figure out how to swim better. Only took me a month or so to learn how to fully swim. Now I love it and am a lifeguard xD

[Dacora]

I think I was around 2 or 3 in my towns river. My grandpa threw me in (its not as bad as it sounds I promise,I really liked it) my dad was right there next to me in the water if I needed him. My parents helped me become a strong swimmer. I only almost drown once in a pubic pool. I had been swimming all day but refused to get out so I was clinging to the side of the pool. I thought it was shallow enough to stand but I went under. My aunt grabbed me out of the water.
Forgot to add. We have pictures of me in little baby floatation thingys. So I was in the water before I could walk.

[Thalassa]

I still don't really know how. My mom tried to take me to swimming lessons as a kid and I refused to put my head under, finally learned how to "swim-ish" at 12 in a class of 5-year-olds (try learning to swim when the kids think you're there to hang on to...yeah...) because I nearly drowned at 7 Peaks (long incident involving a water slide, an obese lady, and a misunderstanding with a lifeguard). HOPEFULLY this summer I'll be able to teach myself the dolphin kick, since I can't afford an instructor and there doesn't seem to be any friend around to teach me. I now LOVE to swim, but just don't do it very well. XP

[Spindrift]

because I nearly drowned at 7 Peaks (long incident involving a water slide, an obese lady, and a misunderstanding with a lifeguard).

This gave me a rather unfortunate image. I am so sorry.

[MerEmma]

My mom took me to swim classes when I was just a few weeks (maybe months...lol, I don't know) old. I took classes and my mom would hold me and I would swim to my swim instructor and the instructor, Ginni, would move backwards sometimes so I had to kick further and I quickly learned as I got older to tell her not to move, every single time. I remember a lot of it and ever since I've been drawn to the water and such. I was a pretty good swimmer all my younger life and finally touched the 12 ft. bottom at our old pool when I was probably five or six. Wow, was I proud! :b When I was about eleven, I started up in my Y's swim team and in the summer when I'm doing it I'm REALLY in shape and my breath is super great (over a minute) and I just love doing it. I wish it was year-round, though. =\

[Sammyantha171]

I've been able to swim as long as I can remember. I'm not sure when I started, but I've always been part of a swimming club. I'm not even sure if I'm doing the techniques correctly anymore, its just completely instinctive for me. I've always preferred swimming underwater though! I love holding my breath, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to almost drown themselves.
Lying on the bottom and blowing bubble rings is pretty fun too :)

[SeaGlass Siren]

i only know how to freestyle swim... and dog paddle.

i didnt learn until recently actually. i went to the community center to try to teach myself how to swim so i put on my goggles, plugged my nose, and dunked my head into the water to sink into the pool (shallow end). i didnt sink, i ended up floating (by that time i had a spaz attack because i was never able to float) and then i just used my arms and legs to "paddle" across the pool.

[Drowning]

Oh, I know just how you feel! I learned to swim by being thrown in the pool at a very young age. I took to it instantly... But then spent as much time underwater as possible. Holding our breath underwater is such a thrill, isn't it? I thought I was the only one who would stay underwater, losing my breath until nearly drowning! I will even ditch my scuba gear on dives sometimes.

This bubbleblower shares your subaquatic joy!


I've been able to swim as long as I can remember. I'm not sure when I started, but I've always been part of a swimming club. I'm not even sure if I'm doing the techniques correctly anymore, its just completely instinctive for me. I've always preferred swimming underwater though! I love holding my breath, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to almost drown themselves.
Lying on the bottom and blowing bubble rings is pretty fun too :)

[Mermaid Danielle]

I'm not really sure when my parents taught my sisters and me to swim... I know we had a plastic baby pool for a really long time, and eventually my sisters and I were able to swim in the regular pool in the backyard. I think it's been an ongoing process throughout my life. Just this past summer, my mom and dad taught my sisters and me how you are supposed to hold someone if you need to swim them out of the water (like in a drowning situation).

We live in Michigan did a lot of traveling to national parks, especially when my sisters and I were kids... I guess it only makes sense to have taught us... :)

[Mermaid Margarete]

I learned how to swim while staying at my aunts house over the summer when I was like 4 years old. My cousins and I would walk to their local pool to take lessons. I remember I had a really hard time putting my face under water so one of my cousins told me, "If you can touch my foot at the bottom of the pool I'll buy you a chocolate bar." AND there went my fear of putting my head under the water XD Hahaha!

I didn't get over my fear of the deep end tho, til I was about 7 or so. I had had these terrible dreams of falling into water and then just sinking and sinking and never coming up. My dad broke a pool rule, by staying in the deep end, promising he wouldn't let me sink, to convince me to try jumping into deep water. The lifeguard yelled at him, but I got over my fear of just sinking ^^

I took more swimming lessons around that time, too, learning how to dive and do different strokes. I loved swimming so much I'd go for the two hour sessions at our local pool and not get out for the entire 2 hours! Even tho I've never been part of a team or super fast, I've been considered a "strong swimmer" - working at a summer camp as a life guard assistant for 4 years and taking surfing while going to school in Hawaii ^_^

I'm so glad mermaiding as gotten me to take to the water, again <3

[Taniira]

I honestly don't remember. I grew up in South Florida and we had a pool and hot tub in the back yard, and my aunt had a pool at her house. We also only lived a few miles from the beach (bike riding distance). There are pictures of me as a baby in a float thing and being held by my family in the pool, so I guess I just learned from being in water all the time.

I took real swimming lessons when I was 9 or 10 with the girl scouts. Obviously I knew how to swim before that, but that's when I learned the proper strokes and all. I never joined a swim team or anything, but I never had any trouble passing those swim tests they do for kids at pools/camps for permission to go in the deep end.

I know the first time I went scuba diving I was probably 6 or 7. My parents had their own gear and would let me use it in the pool sometimes (supervised, of course). I didn't get certified until I was 16 or so, and my first time in the ocean I was 17.

[Capt Nemo]

Got my start with YMCA swimming lessons at 5. Went all the way till there was nothing left but swim team or aquatic leader at 12, and couldn't take scuba until 16.

[Usagi]

Has anyone taken the adult swimming lessons at the Y?

[Rain]

I don't remember what age I was when I learned to swim since it was such a long time ago. But I do remember that even before I knew how to swim I would always waddle around in the water, and sneak on a swimsuit at home if I knew I was going to a place w/ a pool or something haha. When I did learn how to swim, it was a friend that I had recently made in the children's bible group that taught me. The whole group went to the sunday school teacher's place for a pool party, it was really fun.

[Mermaid Momo]

I learned when I was 8 or 9 . My dad pushed me into 8 stand told me to swim and that he wasn't going to jump in if I drowned :/ I sunk a bit, but I got the hand of it and swam over to the wall. :/ after that I actually learned how to hold by breath for a long time and lived at the bottom of the deep end LOL

[Elle]

I was taught in infant classes before I could walk. I was drown-proofed before I was 2. and actually swimming by the time I was 4 or 5.

[Rain]

I learned when I was 8 or 9 . My dad pushed me into 8 stand told me to swim and that he wasn't going to jump in if I drowned :/ I sunk a bit, but I got the hand of it and swam over to the wall. :/ after that I actually learned how to hold by breath for a long time and lived at the bottom of the deep end LOL

I really love swimming underwater, but I can barely hold my breath! Any tips for me? XD

[drucilla]

Let's see it was either the time my dad decided to throw me in the deepend of the pool, or the time the swim instructor let go of me so she could answer her phone... Either way the dog paddle saved me :P lol

[Ariel-Starfish]

I learned how to swim when i was five. afther that I was under wather than above! XD I already fantasized i was a mermaid and did the dolphin kick with normal flippers XD

[Traveling Merman]

I don't remember being taught, my mum says she used to take me in as a toddler so I guess I just copied mum!

[drucilla]

I really love swimming underwater, but I can barely hold my breath! Any tips for me? XD

SING a lot!!!!

[OceanicStory]

I can't remember how old I was exactly, but I was certainly young enough to react to the 'deep end' like an idiot. :lol: I remember being rather frightened of it, before I learned that staying still did more for you than thrashing about. I think I was able to calm down, after that.
I'm glad I did, too, because swimming has since become my favourite sport and excercise.

[drucilla]

I read somewhere that babies hold their breath under water. I'm not going to test it out though...

[Mermaid Pickles]

I was in swimming lessons until I was four, because I had a day where we had a substitute teacher. She was actually the teacher for my sisters' class, and she was having us all swim across the deep end. I didn't want to, so she threw me in. I basically half-doggy paddled, half drowned until I reached the middle, where I took one breath and went under, swimming dolphin kick style all the way to the other side. I was swimming dolphin kick because I was holding my nose and my goggle strap broke. SO I couldn't use my arms and kicking normally was getting me nowhere. Apparently, I was underwater for over a minute. I came back up at the other side, and everyone was freaking out. After that, I wouldn't touch water. Until I was eleven, and my mom requested that my sister's friend teach me to swim. She said that if I swam across her pool and back without a floatie, my mom would jump in in all her clothes. SO I did, and my mom jumped in. And ever since then, I've been swimming my heart out. And only recently got a fabric tail. >,O

[Merman Chatfish]

Depends on what you mean by swim. I loved going underwater and holding my breath my entire life, but I didn't know how to do stuff like the front craw until I was 16. I had signed up for a free lifeguarding class and to prepare for the class I would go into the YMCA and watch people swim and mimic them. By the time the class started I was the best swimmer. Now not only do I lifeguard but I train new lifeguards, teach swim lessons, train new swim instructors, and manage lifeguards and instructors.

[Merman Chatfish]

I read somewhere that babies hold their breath under water. I'm not going to test it out though... It's true! There is a swim lesson company that focuses on training children who are just able to hold their head up on their own how to roll onto their back and kick to the wall, and once there climb out. Children can instinctivly swim until about 6 months old then they lose it if they don't practice. Body fat also helps...at least until they get big enough this happens: https://sites.google.com/site/lifeguardslovevideos/videos/victim-recognition/bigheadslittlebodies

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Before learning the mermaid swim style, I only ever knew how to do the dog and frog paddles.

I taught myself at a very young age. About 40 years ago... It started when all the older kids would go into the big lane pool, and then I'd be left behind as I was the youngest and couldn't swim.

So one day, I went into the kids wading pool, and taught myself to kick water from the edge. After awhile, I had enough tries so I went into the big lane pool, swim up and down the lane, clinging onto the wall when I got tired.

It was terrifying as I was a severe epileptic and I knew I had to not tire myself out, but I still wanted to try. And the water was very deep from the shallow end to the other end, well it was a big person's pool!