Swimming? Oh Man!

My first swimming lesson ever! Got this wonderful, full-sleeved, shocking pink swimming outfit, after a lot of search. Went in for the lesson with some apprehension but found a lot of others who were asking questions similar to mine. “Is this the first swim lesson of your life?” or “It’s about time for us, right?” Well, taking some courage by this fact, I went in enthusiastically. Prashant, my husband, was there too, learning with me.

Truthfully, I love water. I feel one with it. I am a Cancer. It is a water sign. I mean, who will swim if not me? I should feel like fish in the water – just as if it were my natural habitat. Except, that it turns out that I was the only one among the fifteen or so learners, who bombed the practice. I could not even get away from the wall while others were gliding and floating and kicking! I mean, it was the very first class. How could these people do all these things? How could the coaches even teach this Level thirteen-type stuff already?

Okay, so the hardest part for me is to actually get my feet back down once I have lifted (or tried at least) my legs to float in the water. I tried to get back down and was swayed in all different directions, almost twisted my ankle, trying to find foothold and opened my mouth in the process, which made me swallow this water. The darn water (which I love, I feel one with it) went to the wrong pipe inside my body and I started coughing, almost choking. The lifeguard stayed by me, trying to help, but soon waded away to more promising prospects.

So, I decided very firmly that I was going to stick to the wall area of the pool and learn how to stay under water for five seconds. And lo and behold, I was going down on my belly and lifting my legs as well! Except that my husband told me that I had lifted them only about half an inch above the ground. Infuriated, I decided to kick my legs while lifting them so they could all see, but hit my toes on the ground. They are still hurting. So, maybe I really was very close to the ground.

Anyway, I got used to this ‘wall’-end of the pool today at least. Next time, hopefully I’ll test different waters (hah, notice the expression!). My question for now is – how do you go down in the water, lift your legs and not feel like you’re going to hit the bottom? I asked my husband but he said he’ll answer tomorrow. He’s too tired today and has gone to sleep. Huh, acting like a pro already?