Retrotalk : School Daze : Swimming Lessons

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Talkingfox Member Since: February 2006 Contributions: 2499 Gold Stars: 493 View User Posts	Swimming Lessons Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:22 am Central Time (didn't know where to put this...it's kind of like 'school') Who took swimming lessons as a kid? Any funny or traumatic memories? I took swimming lessons in 1978/1979 at the "Y" and I HATED it! We had to wear these things called a 'bubble' that was a band that went aroundt your midsection and had an inflated bubble on the back...sort of shaped like a football. One time the band was too tight so I took my bubble off to adjust it and the teacher SCREAMED at me, picked me up and dunked me under water and held me there for a second! She said "That's what you get when you take off your bubble!" YIKES! We had to take swimming lessons at camp in 1983. on Day one we had to take a test to determine what level you were at and everyone was divided into groups between 1 and 10 (1 meant you were a TERRIBLE swimmer, 10 meant you were practically an Olympian) Although I LOVE to swim and I could spend HOURS in a pool, at the time I couldn't dive and I did a sort of modified dog-paddle. But basically I could DEFINITELY swim. Too bad they didn't see it that way! I was put in level TWO! With a bunch of BABIES that were terrified of the water! for about 3 days I was in that group and all they did was have us hold on to the side of the pool and KICK (which is what we did when I was FOUR!) then they were JUST learning to hold their nose and put JUST their face underwater! Meanwhile I was swimming around underwater like a fish! They finally asked why I was put in such a low group and they had me re-tested and was put into level 6 or 7 (I forget) But I hated it. The water was always FREEZING cold and the lessons were BORING.
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sweetsgrl Member Since: February 2006 Contributions: 2916 Gold Stars: 124 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:22 pm Central Time I remember taking swimming lessons at the local pool. I don't remember much about the lessons themselves aside from the fact that I absolutely hated going because the lessons were held early in the morning and it was always sooooooo cold!
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nosralak Member Since: December 2005 Contributions: 2591 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:08 pm Central Time Talkingfox wrote: One time the band was too tight so I took my bubble off to adjust it and the teacher SCREAMED at me, picked me up and dunked me under water and held me there for a second! She said "That's what you get when you take off your bubble!" YIKES! view Whoa, TF! Did she get in trouble? I probably would have freaked out at that age if someone had dunked me under the water like that.
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tonewinwy Member Since: May 2006 Contributions: 443 Gold Stars: 4 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:34 pm Central Time I didn't take swim lessons. My parents taught us.
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HardyGirl66 Member Since: November 2005 Contributions: 4041 Gold Stars: 550 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:16 am Central Time Well, I basically took swim lessons when I was an adult (22 to be exact), and although I'm not a great swimmer, I can tread water, and can do a basic stroke. _________________ Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.
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knitngurl Member Since: December 2006 Contributions: 55 Gold Stars: 36 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:21 am Central Time I had swimming lessons at my childcare center every summer. When I was 6 I could swim well enough to be with the big kids in the deep end. Then I busted my chin open jumping backwards into the pool, and had to get stitches. After that the teacher made me stay with the kids my own age.
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edehl Member Since: April 2006 Contributions: 1726 Gold Stars: 385 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:34 am Central Time When I was really young, I was so afraid of putting my head under water. Unfortunately, that was one of the pre-requisites for being able to take swimming lessons. So, my mom would take my sisters for lessons. At the time, a bunch of the elementary schools in the area had lessons. They had pools with these space age-type "bubbles" over them. I remember you had to go through two sets of doors because the whole thing was like, vacu-locked or something. Anyway, I didn't actually get up the nerve to put my head under water until I was about 11. I sooooo wanted to be able to go into the deep end and swim with my sisters, but I had to get over my fear of water first. So, one day when we were staying at a motel somewhere, I went to the deep end and jumped in, feet first. After I faced that fear, I got over the fear of putting my head under water and finally was able to take swimming lessons. Nowdays, if there's a pool around, you can't keep me out of it. I love swimming.
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ShaunsMorningGirl Member Since: December 2005 Contributions: 483 Gold Stars: 61 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:15 pm Central Time I took swimming lessons, too. I loved it, but hated that first dive off of the diving board. Once I did that scary first dive, I loved it! I was asked to join the swim team but hated the competition aspect of swimming and declined. I love swimming, though and can save your life if it ever came to that! I spend most of the time in the 'well', and I love swimming in the ocean. _________________ Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. ~Mark Twain
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tonewinwy Member Since: May 2006 Contributions: 443 Gold Stars: 4 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:27 pm Central Time knitngurl wrote: Then I busted my chin open jumping backwards into the pool, and had to get stitches. After that the teacher made me stay with the kids my own age. view My middle sister was about 4 when she did that. Dad told her and told her and told her not to jump backwards. Of course being 4yrs old she didn't listen.
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pooka Member Since: January 2006 Contributions: 8309 Gold Stars: 711 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:05 pm Central Time I learned by myself, but took lessons in 3rd grade. It was winter and very chilly. I hated changing - cold & kind of gross feeling. I remember during one lesson not feeling so well and by the time I got home, I had the flu bigtime.
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sister golden hair Member Since: December 2006 Contributions: 609 Gold Stars: 62 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:30 am Central Time My Mother took her little rocks(her three daughters) to learn to swim in the summer at the outdoor swimming pool! We really wanted to swim but we just sank(LOL) In high school I had swimming in gym(we had a great big pool and swimming was mandatory) we were doing the back stroke when I got whistled at , I was swimming in circles and in the deep end well I thought I could just swim back to the edge but as I was trying to get on my stomach I sank,the teacher had to come in after me! I hate swimming to this day!!
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Mikey Member Since: February 2006 Contributions: 10561 Gold Stars: 7046 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:01 pm Central Time After almost drowning at Wild World I had to take lessons.
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Saucerian Member Since: August 2009 Contributions: 287 Gold Stars: 21 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:49 pm Central Time I took lessons when I was very small, but didn't quite get the hang of it. It wasn't until years later when I was at the local municipal pool and a girl told me, "You just go like this with your arms and legs" that I picked it up.
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freakyfemme Member Since: August 2007 Contributions: 516 Gold Stars: 7 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:29 pm Central Time My mom started me in swimming lessons when I was a baby, but I didn't learn to float by myself until I was six, during school swimming lessons in grade one. I always loved the water as a kid, though, and I got my Bronze Cross when I was fourteen, and to this day, I'm a pretty good swimmer. As for swimming lessons in school, I usually ended up in a fairly high-numbered group (they were numbered from one to five, and I'd usually be in group four or group five), but I'd get teased anyway because of the way I looked in a bathing suit (I was overweight).
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Retromaniac Member Since: September 2005 Contributions: 7508 Gold Stars: 153 View User Posts	Re: Swimming Lessons Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:32 am Central Time I had trouble learning how to swim until we joined a swim club. I learned very quickly after that. I eventually even learned how to dive. My sister was on the swim team for awhile. _________________ Oh Gloria, with hair like granite.
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