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