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“Do you know how to swim?”

Me, “Nope.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t float.”

“What? How?”

“I am too scared to put my face in the water.”

“Did you take lessons as a child?”

“Yup. Until I couldn’t progress without putting my face in the water, then I kept failing and then just gave up.”

That was decades ago. Sure, I’ll wade into the water but only as far as chest height. And that was ok for me. But, over the last few years, I’ve been watching my child go to swimming lessons. And it got me thinking that I SHOULD learn how to swim. But, I’m not ready.

At the start of the summer, my six-year-old got to the exact same point as I got to in swimming. He didn’t progress to the next level of lessons because he didn’t want to put his face in the water.

Uh, oh! Was this history repeating itself?

Throughout the summer, my family and I were meeting my child’s friends and their parents at some of the local pools. One sunny August day started like many of the previous ones, my kid not wanting to put his face in the water. As the day went along, he got more and more confident about jumping in the water and getting his face wet. By the end of the day, he was jumping in and doing 10 metre front swims. I was so proud of him for overcoming his fear!

So for the last month, I’ve been taking private swim lessons. After getting thru the initial anxiety of trying something I’d never had success with, I am gaining new skills under the tutelage of a couple different instructors but I’ve plateaued in the last week mainly due to muscle tension limiting proper technique.

When attempting new activities, your body will need to make some adjustments. Although I have some knowledge in how to loosen up my hip flexors and neck muscles, it is times like these where one should realize when they need help and to seek it out. I guess now it’s my turn to get some physio or massage! 😉

Brian Redillas, RMT