When did you learn how to swim? Do you remember having a fear of the water at first? How did you get over it?
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I don't remember..
I think when I was 10 or so? -
I don't remember-- I remember taking swimming lessons, but can't actually remember not being able to swim. I think probably 4 or 5?
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Really young.. I guess 5. My parents put us in swimming lessons as soon as possible. I don't remember a time not knowing how to swim aside from my earliest memories of swimming lessons.
We had a river nearby so it was important to my parents that we would be safe when playing around.
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I was 19 before I learned how to do an actual stroke. Before that I just did a combination of doggie paddling and froggy swimming.
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@Foodnerd81: @Reese: oh interesting! DD is 5 and I feel like I waited too long for her to learn... But maybe not! She is half excited, half apprehensive about it.
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@chopsuey119: I think I was 10 too. I'm a terrible swimmer though. Are you? We just didn't go a lot as kids so I never got really good or confident about it.
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I'm not sure, maybe 7 or 8, when I could actually swim well enough to handle the deep end enough to go off the diving board. I'm still not a great swimmer, and am not very good at treading water, but I blame it on the fact that I almost drown when I was 3 or 4 and have never really liked going in over my head since.
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My mom enrolled me in swimming lessons when I was 7. They were in the morning at an outdoor pool so I refused to get in the water because it was too cold out! Lol. So I could only doggy paddle for years. One of my friends taught me how to swim when I was 17, thankfully!
I will say, I did almost drown when I was 10 or so in a hotel pool. A man had to jump in and save me! I wish I had been forced to learn at an early age.
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@SAHM0811: omg I suck at swimming.
We took a family vacay to the beach last July and it was the first time in over a decade that I went swimming.I couldn't even put my head under water. lol
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@Reese: My mom was never a strong swimmer, so it was important to her that we all learn to swim young since she didn't feel confident she could save us.
@SAHM0811: 5 is definitely not too old! She just skipped the mommy and me part of those classes!
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30! I just started taking lessons a few months ago actually. I have always loved the water and been comfortable in it (well, I remember having to work on going under water around 7 or 8 maybe so I guess not always) but I never really learned to swim. I have picked it up pretty quickly, after about 4 lessons I felt comfortable going to the pool by myself and swimming laps of freestyle, breast stroke and back stroke.
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I never got into a pool (that I remember) until 6th grade! So 11 years old? I remember the first time trying to dunk my head in water. I took lessons after that and am a ok swimmer now.
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Really young...summers were spent at the lake house so my parents put us in really early. I actually distinctly remember one outdoor class being early in the morning & the water was soooo c-c-cold! My mom actually apologized for it just recently. Ha
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I was 2, my dad tossed me into the deep end of the community pool (my uncle and older brothers were there waiting for me). Sink or swim. I swam.
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We lived in Miami when I was ages 5 - 7, and we lived across the street from the neighborhood pool. So I learned then and was always pretty comfortable in the water.
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We had a pool so I learned at 2 or 3!
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@FutureMrsMcK: This is how I learned to swim, too. We've always had a pool in the backyard, so I guess my parents figured it had to happen sooner than later!
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I did a water babies program. I don't remember learning!
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I don't remember when I started swimming but I'm guessing really really young. I was already club swimming year round by the time I started elementary school.
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I was super young. I also swam competitively from the ages of 11-16 (with a break for a year at 13-14). I LOVE swimming.
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6-7 years old?
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@MrsTiz: same. Apparently my mom had nightmares of us drowning, so we were forced to learn very early.
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@chopsuey119: oh man, that's me too! I blame my parents for not signing me up for lessons when I was younger
@Cole: thanks for sharing your experience! I've often thought about taking private lessons as an adult... but just keep putting it off! I know they say you can't forget how to swim, but it's really been soooo long, and I barely practiced as a kid, so I think I did forget
@FutureMrsMcK: wow! crazy story!
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I started around 5 at the Y and moved through their levels. I am definitely registering DD for classes this summer! Last summer she was pretty scared in the water and separating from me in the pool but I think this summer she will be ready!
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@Pepper: OMG scary!! I remember almost drowning too.... it is the worst memory. I agree... younger is better.
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I want to say younger than 2. I never remember not being able to swim. My mom was a swim teacher and had me in the pool at 6mo. I plan to do the same with LO.
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@T-Mom: ok we'll have to share stories this summer... gonna sign up DD for the first time ever! I think I'm more nervous than her though.
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My parents had us in swimming lessons from age 3 on every summer. Water safety was super important to my dad. They put in a pool when I 10is.
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@Foodnerd81: Same! one of my moms worst memories was when I was in trouble once (carried by current) and she couldn't jump in to get me (she is also the WORST person in emergency situations). Needless to say I was fine but it was really important to her that we grew up as strong swimmers.
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@SAHM0811: Ugh, I agree - terrible memory! It can happen so quickly.
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@SAHM0811: @chopsuey119: me too! I'm a terrible swimmer! I can basically doggy paddle across the pool...it is not cute
I want to enroll LO in classes when she's 3-4 so she learns at an early age.
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When I was pretty young. We've always been a beach or water sports family so we all learned young. But at 12 I drowned and haven't been the same about water since.
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Around 4...I was only really affraid of the diving board. I remember crying before the instructor made me jump.
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I was 8 and it was with the school. Neither of my parents really swum so I didn't learn beforehand. I want to make sure my kids start early!
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Around 5 or 6. I was actually taught by an Olympian!
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I learned as a baby. LO started swim lessons at 5 months.
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I don't know how to swim!! (bad, I know!). The water makes me uncomfortable (though, I do like going boating and don't mind wearing a life jacket, and I've gone snorkling and LOVED that, and just wore a little floater thingy).
I do want LO to learn how to swim when she is little.
ETA: I can float, so I'm not totally helpless in the water, just mostly helpless!
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I think I was around 2-3. My mom took me for lessons at the Y and I LOVED it. I was always the kid they had do things first because I had no fear of the water. When I was 5 my parents bought a house with a pool and I was so anxious all of moving day because I could not wait to get into the pool. Growing up with a pool made me a really good swimmer.
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I was very young--3 years old or so. The earlier, the better, IMO. I was a lifeguard and it's really unsettling how many people do not know how to swim.
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