During a relaxing half-term break swimming in the clear Mediterranean Sea with fish all around me I found myself wishing I had packed a mask, snorkel and flippers.
I should explain, I am by no stretch of the imagination a great swimmer. We have a wonderful team here at Seriously Fun Swimming Schools who provide that kind of expertise. I never really took to swimming as a child, partly because my mother did not like getting her hair wet and partly because my sisters took me for the first time when I was about 9 years old and pushed me into the deep end!
I did eventually learn but as I was short sighted swimming pools were quite a scary place. When I came out of the changing rooms I had to ask friends who were with me to wave their arms frantically and I would stumble towards these pink fuzzy shapes.
However after laser treatment and having my daughter (now 7 years old) it was time to make sure she did not suffer the same fate.
I enrolled her in baby swimming lessons (with Seriously Fun for whom I'm now marketing manager) and made sure I took her by myself as well. Working on the basis that if your child sees you doing something they are more likely to copy you, I donned a pair of swimming goggles, decided is was okay to been seen without make up and threw myself into underwater swimming games playing mermaids!
I was in the pool when she swam front crawl for the first time unaided and it was magical to duck underwater and watch her face. The rest is history and the other evening she swam 400 metres without stopping. I digressed but I wanted to explain my journey to a new found love of water and to even contemplate the thought of putting my face in the sea.
The first step I made seven years ago was to buy a pair of goggles. There is a long way to go but I am proud of myself that I now have fun swimming!
Hi Carla,
ReplyDeletea great story in a true seriously fun style! What a way to go, 400m and 7 years old!
We took our boys (6&3years)to the underwater photoshoot on Sunday and I am hoping that the photo when they went under together cuddling each other and giggling happily will really come off nicely. The photographer actually came out of the water before they did after taking several shots of them, that is how confident in the water they both are. It's definitely money well spent for their swimming lessons and naturally my husband and I are bursting with pride.
Danni :-)