Have you been a non-swimmer all your life?

According to Today.com, although 80 percent of adults claim they can swim, only 44 percent admit they can swim safely.

“Less than half of Americans can actually do all of the five skills that can potentially save your life in the water,” said the Today writer. (Floating or treading water for 1 minute; jumping into deep water and coming up for air; spinning around in the water and finding a way out; getting out of a pool without a ladder; swimming one pool length without stopping). Can you do those?

I admit that I learned to swim when I was 50. Yes, I had gone to numerous day and overnight camps during my youth, each summer entering the programs already apprehensive about swimming classes where it wasn’t “free swim” but, gasp, swimming lessons. After all those years, I never “graduated” out of the beginner’s class. Never. Did you hear me? NEVER! Kicking? Okay. Arms rotating in the water? Okay. Head underwater? No way! I had my eyes closed tight not able to see anything and that’s as far as it went. Deep water over my head so I couldn’t stand up?  I’d rather jump off a mountain — with my eyes wide open.

Then, when I was about 50, my sister in Baltimore who built regular swimming times into her busy schedule introduced me to — goggles. The entire aqua universe was suddenly open to me! I could see swim lanes, the end of the lane to avoid bumping my head, and other people swimming so I could avoid them. It literally changed my life from a non-swimmer to someone who took lessons and loved it, diving in the deep end, doing the turnaround at the end of a lane, swimming 20 laps at a time. I was so proud I had my husband come to class one day to watch what I could do. I kept on taking lessons repeatedly to improve my strokes and try and learn the breaststroke (swim like a frog).

But that was B.C. It used to be B.C., to me, anyhow, B.C. meant “before children.” Now I use it to mean “before Covid.” So, as well as I was doing (I must admit I only swam during lessons and not during the week), Covid put a stop to it.

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The past several years I did look at various swim lesson options at the Y and other places, but none fit my schedule. Dang! Then the Granite Y offered an intermediate class in the evening that worked with my busy life. I was in! I laughed when I saw the ages for the class was 15 and up, but I figured with a neoprene swim cap on my head (not one of those crazy old lady caps with flowers all over them), no one could tell how old I was. And joining me were other middle-aged individuals. Oh, and a younger guy.

But I don’t care. I’m working on my strokes, learning to breathe both on the right and left when doing freestyle (who knew that’s what they used to teach? Read more here.) and getting back into diving, my absolute favorite (maybe because I’m halfway across the pool when I come back up from the dive.) And although my brain still can’t connect the two different actions of the arms and legs used in breaststroke, I’m looking forward to my time in the pool with other camp swim dropouts like myself.

According to the my Y:

• 90 percent of parents see swimming as a key life skill for children, on par with first aid skills and being able to prepare a simple meal.
• 24 percent of parents have low confidence with water activities or bodies of water.

Sounds like it’s time to looking into those swimming classes, no matter what your age!