Swimming lessons for total (scared) beginner

Knifey_Spoony

Hi,
The other thread on swimming got me thinking about something ive been contimplating on doing, learning how to swim.
The thing is I am so so afraid of water. I get into the pool and stuff when Im on hols or whatever, but if the water goes higher than my middle torso area I totally panic. I finally gave in one time and trusted my friends to drag me out further while leaning on two inflatable things, but as soon as i cant feel the ground anymore (even though i had the things to float on) I totally panic. And i mean panic. I was never so scared in all my life. There were screams and tears and alot of shaking for a good while after!
I reckon i should learn to swim though because the chances of needing it are pretty high. Its not unusual for cars to crash into lakes etc.
Im just real scared though. I even have nightmares of drowning sometimes.
Would most places that give lessons understand this and not take the piss out of me. I mean i prob would be real panic-y and make a show of myself but do you think the instructors would be used to this?
Im 20 (female) and would be embarrassed enough being in a swimsuit infront of strangers without having a panic fit thing infront of them too, but i feel i should learn how to swim.
Any thoughts?
Ive tried getting a friend i really trust to teach me (even if it was in a waterfall) but i still cant trust anyone fully. Im just convinced im gonna drown.

Creamy Goodness

i'm sure any self repecting pool club/house would understand your fear of the water and i'm sure they'd not laugh/stare/riducule you whatsoever.

i have the same fear as yourself and i hate it, absolutely hate it, but i'm not prepared to face up to it at the moment.

i'd say go for it and let the best of luck be with you.

Knifey_Spoony

Cremo wrote:

i'm sure any self repecting pool club/house would understand your fear of the water and i'm sure they'd not laugh/stare/riducule you whatsoever.

i have the same fear as yourself and i hate it, absolutely hate it, but i'm not prepared to face up to it at the moment.

i'd say go for it and let the best of luck be with you.

Yeah, reading me post again Im not entirely sure I can face up to it either! Its horrible isnt it. Im ok standing in the water, or walking about in it in the pool or whatever, but putting my head under the water or anything like that just freaks me out!
I dont even know if lessons would be any good. The instructor would be like, "just do this" and i'd be screaming "NOOO i cant". I cant even float, even when two people i trust are willing to stand there with their arms supporting my back so i serously cant drown. I just cant do it though

Creamy Goodness

i totally understand, apart from being touched in the neck (my worst fear) this comes in a very close second, i would love to conquer this fear but i always think sure feck it if God wanted us to put ourselves under water he would of given us a pair of gils.

mad m

Cheeverstown up in templeogue does swimming lessons for adults and kids.

Knifey_Spoony

Ah but in that case, if god wanted us to wear clothes we'd be born with them on us! Just kidding. Yeah i think the same alot of the time, but sometimes swimming just fascinates me. Like HOW do people actually do it. Its weird. Still damn scary though. You're making me doubt myself as to whether im ready to learn or not!
Seriously, i reckon im probably too much of a coward.

RicardoSmith

There usually special classes for adult learning to swim, and generally run by people who really want to help you. Check your local gym or swiming pool. Learning to swim is very much like driving a car or riding a bicycle. Seems hard at first but then one day it just clicks. You just need patience and remember your body naturally floats not sinks.

Knifey_Spoony

RicardoSmith wrote:

There usually special classes for adult learning to swim, and generally run by people who really want to help you. Check your local gym or swiming pool. Learning to swim is very much like driving a car or riding a bicycle. Seems hard at first but then one day it just clicks. You just need patience and remember your body naturally floats not sinks.

Yeah but if you panic at all you just start to sink. thats my problem. Gotta learn to relax and trust the water so to speak. Thanx for the advice everyone. gonna seriously consider doing some lessons soon. I'll havta do them in a different area where I wont bump into anyone i know! Seriously, im a screamer! Its gonna be so embarrassing cos i'll panic and scream "help im dying" or something equally embarrassing!
An actual instructor tried teaching me on hols before and she seriously said i was the worst person she'd ever tried to teach. I just couldnt do anything she told me, just too scared.
Theres probably no hope for me!

Creamy Goodness

yeh like i mean like if you go to an adults begining course they know everyone who turns up will be a beginner and would have been trained to understand all the anxious feeling you would have.

it's exactly like when you get your first driving lesson (i remember mine well (last april)) i was fecking ****ting it.

if you do decide to go with it (which i think you should) let us know how you get on as i personally would be interested to know.

good luck!

Zaph

All my friends are pretty decent swimmers, so it's good to know that I'm not the only person in the world with an unreasonable fear of water. I'm fine wading up to my waist or so, but like Blinky once I start to feel water over my chest I really freak out. I reckon at 37 I'm not going overcome the fear at this stage so I'll just have to avoid driving off quays or into lakes!

Mr E

I'm in the same boat. I'm 30 and can't swim.

I was taking lessons when I was about 12, and making good progress. Then one day, standing with my back to the deep end, a 'friend' of mine pushed me in. I paniced, swallowed water and had to be pulled out. Scared the sh*t out of me. Went to the pool for about 6 months after that, and still couldn't swim (I just didn't have the confidence any more).

Would like to give it another bash this year (especially as my gym has a swimming pool).

Chucky the tree

i am no expert in this but how about trying learning to swim where you can stand? if you went as deep as your waist and just tried float, would that freak you out?

if not just go to an adult class and explain before to the instructor how bad your fear is, chances are majority of the adult class will have the same fear as you.

Knifey_Spoony

Chucky the tree wrote:

i am no expert in this but how about trying learning to swim where you can stand? if you went as deep as your waist and just tried float, would that freak you out?

Yeah unfortunetly this would still freak me out. Once i cant feel the ground, even if im just sorta trying to float in shallowish water i still panic. I floated once but panicked because I couldnt get upright in the water again. it sounds so silly! ah well.
I'll just havta copy Zaph's advice and steer clear of lakes and rivers when in a car!

OFDM

Blinky1 wrote:

I cant even float, even when two people i trust are willing to stand there with their arms supporting my back so i serously cant drown. I just cant do it though

You can't float because you're exhaling - your lungs need to be full of air to float properly.

mad m

Rang the swimming instructor in cheeverstown,and she is doing 8 sessions for 75euro.Ill pass on her number to you if you get up the courage.

Knifey_Spoony

mad m wrote:

Rang the swimming instructor in cheeverstown,and she is doing 8 sessions for 75euro.Ill pass on her number to you if you get up the courage.

That is so so nice of you! Thanx. Only thing is I dont even know where Cheeverstown is, and since i dont drive it might be a bit awkward to get to I cant believe u rang her, thanks so much, i really appreciate it

mad m

ah well no worries,its on the southside near templeogue bridge...or not too far from Spa Well....

Chucky the tree

Blinky1 wrote:

Yeah unfortunetly this would still freak me out. Once i cant feel the ground, even if im just sorta trying to float in shallowish water i still panic. I floated once but panicked because I couldnt get upright in the water again. it sounds so silly!

if you go to classes, or go with a mate they should support your back while trying to float so if you panic they will just flip you back up in a second.

if you do go ahead with it, best of luck! Definitly worth learning to siwm i think!

goodluck

tk123

Blinky they're not going to just throw you into the pool and tell you to swim!! There's floats and stuff and the instructor will know that your scared and help you relax in the water. I go to westwood and the pool is at the same level so you can always just stand up if you're too tired...

logic1

tk123 wrote:

I go to westwood

Sorry to hijack but how are you finding ww lately?

Went to park in the overflow recently and it was full at 6pm.. bloody new years resolutioners.

Sticking to 7am training till they go back to whatever they were doing before January.

.logic.

tk123

It's PACKED - in fairness I've started going after work every evening cos i signed up for that sponsored spin thing so I'm adding to crowd. The classes are normal enough but I was in a class on Tuesday and came out into the gym at 7:00pm and it took me ages to find a free treadmill - the only ones that were free were in front of the weights area so I had a laugh at people doing stuff completely wrong - rowing/lifting weights. I've started doing bodypump again after i busted my elbow so I'm a weakling with my 5kg max ( ) and theres been a good few guys in the classes lifting WAY to much and having to drop the weights down in the middle of each track or a guy on tues had the bar resting on his tummy while he tried to take weights off the ends of the bar! I think they should make you beep into the gym area too and only allow access to your keyring once you have done an induction!! AND while we're off topic - i came out last friday evening to find my bike had been blown over - i was never paged and the security guy saw me trying to lift the bike and just passed me by - some punter leaving bar code saw me and helped me lift it! :mad:

logic1

That's a lot of rage.

.logic.

Trojan

Westwood sucks.

Unfortunately it's so handy over there...

GreeBo

If you are really, really super nervous it might be an idea to go for a one on one lesson in somewhere like westwood, a friend of mine learned how to swim from scratch there and now he does Triathalons...
Granted he didnt have a fear of water, but he couldnt swim at all in the begining and 3 months later was in the sea....
You might do a few things yourself to save yourself a lot of money for the "screaming lessons".
Even things as silly as putting your head under water in the bath or in a sink will get you used to being immersed.
If you go to a pool, hang onto the side while you dunk yourself under water, its all about getting yourself comfortable.
and dont worry about things like floating but not being able to get back upright, the instructor will teach you these things
(you actually just bring your knees up to your chest and your head will pop up, once that happens just stick your legs out again and youre standing)
Once you get used to being underwater its easier to swim as you will not be afraid of going under and so will be more relaxed which in turn will help you float.
Good luck.

Knifey_Spoony

Thanx for that GreeBo. You make it sound so easy! Yeah id love it if i could get a one to one lesson, but i dont think ANYWHERE would do them. I would feel more relaxed if there was no one else there watching. Im really gonna havta look into some lessons soon. Keep having nightmares about drowning lately!
Thanx for the advise Hopefully i'll get over the fear (although im not too sure that i will )

tk123

Blinky1 wrote:

Thanx for that GreeBo. You make it sound so easy! Yeah id love it if i could get a one to one lesson, but i dont think ANYWHERE would do them. I would feel more relaxed if there was no one else there watching. Im really gonna havta look into some lessons soon. Keep having nightmares about drowning lately!
Thanx for the advise Hopefully i'll get over the fear (although im not too sure that i will )

They do one to one lessons in Westwood

Moriarty

I'd agree with what greebo said. Get comfortable with water. I'd also suggest that you try to push yourself a bit when you're actually in the water, don't give up if you start to get jittery or you may never get over this phobia. Most of all, persevere.

Sangre

I remember I saw some adult trying to learn to swim in some pool ages back, they were obviously quite nervous and scared. All I could think was 'fair ****s for trying to conquer something at that age'.
Swimming is great, you'll be thankful when you can splash around freely! Great non-impact exercise too.