Last year 12 people who had made the decision to finally learn to swim, each wrote a diary about their experiences. These diaries can be viewed in the Suffolk section of the everyday swim website (www.everydayswim.org). Amazingly, 1 in 5 adults in the UK can’t swim and this is an opportunity for adults in Suffolk to take on the challenge of permanently overcoming their fears and enjoying the relaxation and endorphin kick of being confident in the water.
On 18th March at the Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre, Duncan Goodhew gave a swimming lesson to four of these diarists, eight new swimmers and Donovan Blake from Anglia TV. He showed them how to improve their breast stroke and front crawl and taught them a number of other very useful water skills including being able to float on your back in a completely relaxed manner. This can be a very useful way of chilling out when other parts of your life are being particularly stressful. After the lesson Suffolk County Councillor Rosemary Clarke presented the diarists with a certificate and swim bags to celebrate their achievements.
A large number of adults never learnt to swim because they didn’t have a chance as children or because they were terrified of getting into the water. Yet surprisingly, swimming is the activity that most inactive people say they would like to try and it’s one of the few activities that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Now there is a real opportunity for you think about fitting some lessons into your life because all 14 public swimming pools in Suffolk have joined forces in a unique initiative to get the county swimming. They are offering a course of adult swimming lessons for just £10 over the summer, with some pools starting as early as the beginning of April, so you need to call your local pool soon.
Here are some of the experiences of people who learnt to swim last year:
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Barbara (62), had always been terrified of the water all her life.
"Because of what I had been through, I needed to have complete confidence in the person I chose to teach me to swim and I felt comfortable with my instructor from the start.
Within the first five minutes I did the unthinkable - I put my head under the water!
Since then I have gone from strength to strength and had fun every step of the way.”
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Elaine wanted to learn to swim so she could take her grandchildren to the pool, which she was never able to do with her own children.
This was my first lesson since the age of 11 years old. The instructor gave me so much confidence and it’s the fist time ever that I was getting across the pool without my feet touching the bottom (with a float of course).
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Geraldine decided to learn because she wants to swim with her family and friends and enjoy her holidays
“This was my first swimming lesson and I was quite nervous. However being in a small group that had met up in the changing room really did help because we all went through to the pool together…I personally didn’t feel quite so self-conscious of my fear, knowing I was with others who felt the same.” |
Click here for details of the courses, and which pools are participating.
