Ready for The Deep | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Ready for The Deep | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kori Philipp
01/19/08
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My father once told me a story about how he learned to swim. He said his dad just tossed him out into the water and said, “Swim”. I can’t imagine that being the best way to learn. How would you know what to do? Obviously my dad made it because he lived to tell about it, but that day, did he actually learn how to swim? Or, did he just learn how to kick and splash enough to get back to shore?

As some things do, this technique was passed on to the next generation. My dad tried teaching a similar version of swimming lessons to my sisters and me when we were young, but it didn’t work out so well. His technique was to stand in the pool and then tell us one at a time, to jump from the side of the pool into the water, assuring us that he would catch us. Once we made the scary leap into the water, each with hesitation and the need for persuasion, he sometimes would purposely not catch us and would allow us to go under the water. He then would quickly assist us in getting back up above the water and over to the ladder. I think he wanted us to learn how not to be afraid of going under water, and not to panic if we do, but from that, we still did not learn how to swim.

I chose a different technique when my kids were young. I signed them up for swimming lessons at the local pool during the summer. We did this for several years, until they passed all of the levels necessary to be able to swim on their own. Since I stayed at the pool and watched each lesson, I was able to observe the different levels of instruction.

The kids would start out in the shallow pool, learning how to get used to being in the water and getting their face wet. The next level was in the 3-foot end of the big pool. There they learned how to kick while hanging on to the side of the pool. In this level they also worked on arm strokes and holding their breath while putting their face in the water. The last level was in the deep end of the pool, where their feet could not touch. They learned how to tread water and practice some of the skills from previous levels.

I was mostly satisfied with the instruction they received, except for one day. This particular day an instructor was walking a class, who were still very much in the beginning stages of learning how to kick and move their arms, over to the deep end of the pool. She told them she would be watching them and instructed them to jump into the water. I guarantee you I was watching them as well, because my daughter was in this group. As my daughter jumped into the water, she quickly began to struggle. She was not able to bring herself back up above the water. The instructor was not aware of this since she was preoccupied with another student. I ran over to the side, yelling for the instructor to notice my daughter, and when I was just about to jump in, the instructor grabbed her and assisted her to the side.

That day, everyone learned a very important lesson, including the instructor; completing each skill level before moving on to the next, is essential. My daughter could have been seriously hurt because, at that time, she was not yet ready for the deep.

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