Unconventional Swimming Lessons

Unconventional Swimming Lessons

Despite living close to large fresh water bodies (river, canal, tanks, and yes even sea), I did not learn swimming for many years. My village friends and some classmates used to spend hours in the wide canal waters, at times with a fly rod. Once my classmate got almost smacked in the eye while diving from a tree branch into the large tank near our street corner. Mother could have used her good offices to arrange swimming lessons for me from any of her village friends. Perhaps she was too busy with other things and I never learned the water sport in my native village. Thus though clean water was close by I could not avail the fun of aquatic sports.  Rarely I did any serious swimming in my school days except a few half-hearted strokes or paddling with my tiny hands. This is what they mean by the age-old adage: “The temple is near but the Lord is far away.” 

In the graduate school we had to endure very hot summers; still makes me dehydrate just by thinking even now! And there was a functioning Olympic size pool with clean green tinted (bleach) waters. One day at the breakfast table my friends and I were idly talking about while munching on toast and fruit. Two other friends were in their swimming trunks for the morning lap. Casually I asked my Tamil friend (M.S.) to teach me swimming. “No problem, first get yourself a nice swimming shorts (trunk).” I waited anxiously the whole day to get out of the lab sooner and rushed to the strip mall in the evening. For about ten or fifteen rupees I bought a simple grey trunk; but it was too late for my first lesson that evening.

Next morning after brushing I dashed directly to my friend’s hostel room on the ground floor. We quickly grabbed the breakfast and proceeded towards the pool. He was telling me stories about how he used to swim in Tamil Nadu in a large well with rope tied around his waist. Sweet innocent high school outdoor activities in clean water surroundings – days of the bygone era. After a quick shower we went down to the pool. It is a big pool with diving boards going all the way up to thirty feet high. 

My teacher friend was very brave and physically fit. He took me directly to the deep end near the high diving board. There he proceeded with stern instructions: “Look dear, if you want to learn really you’ve to follow my advice. You can stay like all those idle guys in the shallow waters for several seasons without ever learning anything about water. They stand there like the cranes, just walking on the floor in the shallow water.”

“No, I want to learn fast. I want to enjoy swimming and deep water diving.”

“Ok, I’ll teach you in two days. You just have to follow my rules. And fully trust me.”

That’s it. He really taught me everything in two or three days. There were no ropes, floating devices, goggles, and not even earplugs. No long pole to rescue me from drowning. My instructor continued thus: “First you get rid of water phobia. I ask you to jump into the sixteen feet deep water. You just jump. And then follow your (body) instincts to stay afloat, just enough to keep your nose above water. Be utterly calm and continue steady gentle breathing.”

That was it - a small adventurous beginning. I was standing next to the diving board in wet swimming costume. And without any thought, I just jumped straight into the pool. With a bit of paddling and pushing with hands (Newton’s Third Law) I could keep my head above the water and gently I crawled towards the cement hand railing on the edge. My instructor was happy to see me afloat breathing normally. We continued talking with further helpful instructions, he standing over the edge and me vertically floating in the pool.  

  

After two weeks my teacher had let me swim on my own without any supervision. I did not pay for his lessons in any way. But I used to accompany him to the Sunday group meetings (picnic) with packed lunches from the mess. Eventually we all graduated and dispersed from the city. Later he tracked me down in Tamil Nadu on one afternoon and we went for a nice high tea outside the college campus. 

That summer when I visited my native place in Andhra I had a marvelous vacation time (a blast!) in the village. We were living very close to the big agricultural feeder canal and every morning I would take a dip in the water. I did several laps covering the width and tried my screw rotations (freestyle and backstroke combination) on the slightly muddy waters. All the fear of water was gone forever. 

As I look back fondly at those youthful days I’ve only few complaints: I did not fully learn the diving technique. With more patience and perseverance I could have developed a smooth diving, the angle of attack, and perhaps one or two flips in midair. Also I should have perfected the forward (breast) stroke keeping the head a little lower into the water with the upper body more parallel (horizontal) to the floor. But then there were other distractions like looking at other swimmers, the canteen dosas, and enjoying the Amaltas flower bunches on the way. I also learned other subjects like adult education from my hostel mate. That summer fully engrossed in the water sport was a memorable phase in my life. I made new friends and the swimming season ended with a “swimmer’s ear”. We almost watched with a sigh of despair at the closing of swimming pool for the season; it was getting terribly cold and we couldn’t continue any further with dirty mossy water. I got introduced to authors like Herman Hesse and Joyce through my humanities hostel mates. My lab friends got envious at my carefree attitude to life (studies). I think they got jealous because I learnt swimming so quickly, so easily, so effortlessly. 

Despite spending two or three hours in the pool I still managed with my lab work pretty well – way ahead of my group. I think every youngster should master bicycle and swimming. They teach bodily balance and floating ability. Every summer when I read about the recurring drowning of young college students I really feel sorry for such water accidents, tragedies that are really preventable.  To be Continued. Copyright 2022 by the author. Pool Photo adapted from the Internet (Copyright holder unknown)