Derek Fletcher Self Analysis

In her poem, The Swimming Lesson, Mary Oliver uses the story of her first time swimming as a metaphor for a life lesson on adapting to new situations. She does this in a detailed, significant manner, using different techniques. These methods pull you into the story, making you ponder about the structure and the deeper meaning of the poem. Firstly, one of these strategies is when Oliver exaggerates parts of the experience. A time when she exaggerates an event that took place, was in the beginning of the paragraph. “Feeling the icy kick, the endless waves. Reaching around my life.” (Line 1). Oliver puts emphasis on the feeling of swimming for the first time, leaving a vivid image in your head of what she experienced

The wet tiles that were beneath my feet felt cold, and moist. The locker room was filled with the sound of scalding water slapping the tile floor harshly. The room felt hot and humid like a summer day in Florida. I could feel my anxiety burning within me, in the same way a fire burns down a forest. It grows profusely worse as the second hand on the clock above my locker ticks away. I quickly changed into my swim trunks, and crept into the swimming area with fear and anticipation. I tiptoed my way down the stairs that led into the pool. I could feel the brisk water slowly creep up my leg as I forced myself deeper and deeper. I was on my way to my mother who was going to try and teach me how to do a back float. I remember tipping

Dinitia and I stayed in the pool all morning, splashing, practicing the backstroke and the butterfly. She flailed around in the water almost as much as I did. We stood on our hands and stuck our legs out of the water, did underwater twists, and played Marco Polo and chicken with the other kids. We climbed out to do cannonballs and watermelons off the side, making bug geyserlike splashes intended to drench as many people sitting poolside as possible. The blue water sparkled and churned white with foam (191).

Johnny Weissmuller had many troubles in his early life which helped him swim and be the person he was. At age nine Weissmuller contracted the disease polio. His doctor recommended that he should learn how to swim to help keep him healthy and active. Soon after, he joined the YMCA swim team and started his career as a swimmer. He attended college only for a while, then dropped out to work numerous jobs. At one job he was working as a elevator operator at a hotel, he met one of his past swim coaches that coached him to two championship wins. At this time Weissmuller was not swimming, but his past swim coach, and friend, convinced him back into swimming. Soon after this, Weissmuller was winning again and again.

Honestly ever since I was two years old I have been in water, and learned how to swim at around three. I had not learned anything about swimming in Wheeling High School and I can prove that I did not benefit from the swimming sessions. I had already known survival techniques such as not panicking in water and floating on my back to save energy. I already had common sense of not using drugs because I could drown. I had known that many college students go to Lake Michigan at night and die because they can't see or are drunk. To be honest I knew all of these rules but feel maybe Wheeling high school had re-emphasized all of them. I will try to use these techniques at my pool in Florida and continue to teach others how to swim.

"Swimming instruction, which in time became swimming practice, was grueling, but there was the deep pleasure of doing a stroke with increasing ease and speed" (Martell 10).

Over 1,075 of all the second graders in Citrus County schools took part in the School District’s water safety last year. In addition, from August through October nearly every day high school swim athletes, their families and spectators also took place in FHSAA high school competitive swimming either in practice or by competing or attending one of the near 20 high school swim meets last school year. This means that 1,000s of Citrus county school students visit the Y each year as part of school actives. As we both agree it is our hope that the new Aquatics Director is a proponent and supportive of Citrus County School District’s learn to swim program and High School

When I was little, my grandfather taught me how to swim. I remember the time we were

Ten and a half days into our trip a terrible storm hit us with such fury my head's still spinning. Gusts of fast wind blew icy hail into our path, forcing us to find shelter. We covered our animals with blankets to try and keep the hail from hitting them, and we hid with them as well. The only thing we could do was to wait out the storm. When the storm had finally stopped we were forced to see the damage that was bestowed on us. Tears ran through the wagon’s tarp in many places. One of our flour sacks was soaked through, forcing us to make pancakes for the entire wagon train. Trees were uprooted on the trail ahead. One of our cows had managed to run off during the storm, I can only hope we can find her later on. The others’ wagons looked the same as ours, but with our decision to leave behind most of our books and pictures we did not need to deal with tossing them out and getting all of the small broken glass pieces out of the wagon. We camped there for the remainder of that day despite the urges made by Sam to keep moving on. It is true that we could have gotten to Fort Kearney if we had left that second, but after a draining and scary day everyone-except Sam-was ready to camp for the

“Where others saw obstinacy, I saw determination,” Ryder said. When Marilyn Bell’s parents were looking for an instructor for Bell, Gus Ryder was one of them. He has been running “The Lakeshore Swim Club” for over 20 years. When Bell started swimming lessons for the first time, at the end of her lessons Ryder invited her to join a competitive swim club. Ryder soon became one of Canada’s most famous coaches. Without telling anyone Ryder started to train Bell to make the swim across Lake Ontario, but in order for her to earn that she needed to prove herself. Ryder knew she was ready for it so he started to coach her to become a long – distance open water swimmer. Whenever Ryder told Bell to do something she wouldn’t complain to him. He was the main reason why Marilyn was in the lake. Now the Lakeshore Swim Club now teaches swimming to the children who are physically disabled,

The journey of competitive swimming started at the age of eight for my local `neighborhood team. I exhibited great potential for the future, for I won nearly all my races. This seemed like the sport

Central Idea: Swimming has a long and rich history that dates back way before our generations and is not always as beneficial as we may think.

Thesis/main topic – Learning how to swim is essential for being around water, it will help strengthen a person confidence, improve your physical fitness, and provide an area for stress release.

I was a freshman in high school when I began a new step in my life. Walking into the Montgomery County YMCA’s Wilson Aquatics Center, most people see a place to swim with friends, relax and improving wellness. Whereas I see a place full of rowdy kids, responsibility and potential danger. Looking back, the YMCA has taught me more than just important life-saving skills. I’ve learned important skills that I will need for the rest of my life.

The next part of the training turned out to be the toughest. We were required to dive ten feet to the bottom of the pool and retrieve a ten pound weight. Once the weight was brought to the surface we were supposed to tread water for two minutes while keeping the weight above the water line. This appeared to be simple so I dived in, expecting an easy time. I had no trouble getting the weight to the surface and proceeded to tread water with a feeling of undoubtable success. But once again my anti-floating physical quality began to take effect. At one minute and thirty seconds I began to sink and within the next fifteen seconds my head was submerged and I was fighting for air. The water from the pool began flowing into my mouth with each desperate grasp for air; it felt as if an ocean were draining into my body. I remember hearing from under the water the instructor's muffled voice counting down the last ten seconds of the exercise. When it was all over I slowly made my way back to the pool's edge where I was informed by the two young girls that they had no difficulty