How did you learn to swim?

[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. 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/lifegu...dslittlebodies

[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!