Please help me! I can't learn to swim...

[conrad665]

Hi, I'm trying to learn swimming in a course. It has been 5 days, but water still terrorizes me( when I was little, I was nearly drowning). Trainer always says to be calm and relaxed, but I can't do it.I even can't get into water if he does not enter. Do you have such a fear? Or could you give me advices for me to overcome this phobia? I'll be grateful if you could help me.

I really want to learn swimming. It looks fun!

[Lupin1]

Go as often as you can and stay in the shallow end. First just go up to your stomach until you feel more comfortable with that. Then go a little higher, then a little higher. Don't put your head under the water until you feel comfortable enough to do so and always stay where you can touch the bottom. Stay at every stage as long as you need to just to get your comfort level up. Don't push yourself or you'll get more scared and you'll regress. When you're ready to start actually swimming (like without touching), practice it where you CAN touch if you need to first-- just float on your back, then on your stomach and then move around a little, knowing that all you need to do if you get scared is stand up. Stay close to the edge of the pool if that helps, so you can just grab the edge. Let your swim instructor teach you to swim in water over your head WHEN YOU'RE READY. Don't feel rushed. Go nice and slow.

Remember that humans are meant to be in water-- we're naturally bouyant and babies can swim to the surface if born in water. Human's have a little webbing between our fingers which some scientists believe is because we used to spend a lot more time in water. We also have a biological trait that not too many species have in that when our face is submerged our breathing slows and changes to allow up to stay under longer comfortably. All this means that humans are meant to be in water and swim, it's something natural to our species. Just trust yourself and take your time and let yourself get comfortable at every step before moving on to the next. You'll get there!

[conrad665]

Thanks for the answer,Lupin1. I tried hard last week to learn it and to stay calm- but I couldn't The course ends this sunday, and I'm still a big coward.Today we tried doing the moves without the thing that keeps you on water-and it was a misery while everybody could do easily.The trainer said that I am not psychologically ready,and he was right. I can't stay calm on water.Man, sometimes I hate myself...

[Lupin1]

Not being able to swim is no reason to hate yourself. You said yourself you had a traumatic experience. That's more than a valid reason to be afraid of water. Everyone has stuff we're afraid of. Just take it slow, like I said. Don't push yourself and be PATIENT AND FORGIVING with yourself. This is a valid fear and will take time to overcome.

[conrad665]

Thanks for your kindness to answer, and I think you're right. I won't force myself too much to learn swimming quickly-it just makes me tenser- I'll probably try another course with a shallower pool-this one is an olympic pool with 2.20 meters(7.2 ft) depth,which increases my anxiety. When I learn it at the end, I'll let you know 'cause I'll never give up!

[etali]

When I was learning, my teacher had us hold the edge of the pool and practice kicking our legs behind ourselves, then we progressed to holding a floatation board out in front of us while kicking our legs, to get used to moving in the water.

I found that if I tried to keep my head above water while doing that, I pretty much floated naturally, and it wasn't too uncomfortable. My technique at strokes where you're supposed to put your head under water (e.g. front crawl) is appaling, but I can swim long distances now, and I'm confident enough that I don't mind going underwater every now and then.

If the course is over now, why not try going to a public pool yourself, and just staying in the shallow end? I think you might do better with short bouts of frequent practice than the odd lesson here and there. Good luck!

[conrad665]

When I was learning, my teacher had us hold the edge of the pool and practice kicking our legs behind ourselves, then we progressed to holding a floatation board out in front of us while kicking our legs, to get used to moving in the water.

We also did this kind of drills. I can do them(at the edge and with the board) a little, but when I leave the edge, my heart really starts to beat fastly. Better than the first day, but I could not overcome it yet.

Keeping my face above water while swimming is one of my biggest problems-I wasn't aware of it till yesterday. Another problem of mine is getting my head out of water so fast and not leaning it onto my shoulder. When I do it, all the water on my face fills my mouth and I can't breathe when I turn to my side.

And I can't float.

Now the course is over and I'll go to another course. Thank you, I hope I can learn to swim this time.