Dominican Republic: Afraid Of Bodies Of Water

It all started in the car on our way back from Hanauma Bay when my older brother was talking about the amazing “Sandy Beach” that we were going to pass on our way home. I can still hear him shout “Please mom we need to go, the waves are supposed to be massive!” Now my mom has never been fond of us swimming in waves as I was born without a gag-reflex so she has always been extra cautious of especially myself swimming. Now she did not like the idea of us going to this beach at all but as my

I always struggled with the fear of swimming because of a near death experience but, that never stopped me from trying to learn. There are so many challenges that I have faced and more that I know will come along the way. However, in those moments of despair I was able to navigate toward my strength. I am motivated

When I was five years old, I joined the Carroll Aquatic Swim Team. I stuck with it because I loved being underwater, feeling the refreshing water all over and the sensation of touching the wall, finishing first hearing the people holler. When I got older I just didn’t have much care for it. So, I decided that I wanted to give up. Then, my mom told me that I should finish the season than I could determine, nevertheless, I did as I was told. At my last meet, my mom signed me up to swim the IM which is when you swim all four strokes. I was convinced that I couldn’t do it because I had never done it before. I told my mom that I couldn’t and I would fail, but my friend convinced me that I should do it. She told me that I would only disappoint people if I gave up; consequently, I swam and received first place. In conclusion, I ended up feeling the same exciting feeling as when I was five.

My head went back, and my feet popped up. I felt the frigid water seep into my hair, and soak my scalp. I heard my mom’s soft voice trying to keep me calm, and reminding me to keep my bellybutton up to the air as if some puppet master was holding it up by a string. Every time my mom tried to let me float by myself, my feet would begin to sink. It was as if I was a weight on a fishing line pulling it down into the dark abyss. I couldn’t seem to stay relaxed, I was as stiff as a two by four. That fire was still burning my inner forest deep within me. I remember startling myself out of the float, because I did not feel my mom’s hands supporting me anymore. I scrambled for footing on the bottom of the pool floor feeling the rough pool floor slip past my toes a couple times before I got the traction to stand up. I was kind of confused for a moment as I tried to get the water out of my eyes and nose. My family was now all out in the pool area, and I realized the moment I have been dreading for the past few years of my short life was here and I knew it. My family was going to have me jump off the diving board, in hopes that it would dissipate my excruciating fear of water. My heart was beginning to pound through my

My parents tell me that I took to swimming like... a fish takes to water. It is a safe place where I can float free of worries. Driven by passion and dedication, I decided to begin swimming competitively. Competitive swimming requires an intense level of determination and discipline. Forcing myself to get out of my warm bed at 5:30 in the morning to put on a still-slightly-damp swimsuit and stand in 40-degree weather waiting for practice to start. Putting up with limited lane space and irritating swimmers who think they are faster. Making a conscious effort to work on my stroke form, turns, touches, and techniques. The water becomes a whirlpool of injuries, losses, wins, friendships, enemies, and sickness. The water becomes home.

My story begins on the boy's varsity swim team for Hilton High School. Before beginning the season I had taken a two-year break, so I was quite rusty and out of shape. At the beginning of the season, I had a hard time getting breathing patterns back and making sure my technique was good. I would be negative and tell myself that I could not do it or I would tell myself that I was too fat to be a swimmer and I should just give up. But every day I seemed to walk through the pool doors to begin another day of practice. The first meet of

I woke up nauseous, too sick to eat. The whole drive there I was praying it would be cancelled. The fear consumed me; I couldn’t move. I just wanted to be home in my warm, comfy bed, instead I was diving into an ice cold pool. After warm-up my coach gave me a pep talk, but I was too nervous to listen. Sometimes I got so nervous I’d throw up, right before my event. To this day I still don’t understand why I got so anxious at swim meets. For the past several years, I have had a love hate relationship with swimming. I always struggled with swimming, and many times I wanted to quit. The time commitment and the physical requirements have always been a little too much for my mind to handle and it all comes to a crescendo when it is time to compete. I often wondered why I continued to put

I listened and did as he said. I pushed forward and started my way down the steep slide. The force of the water carried me forward at a fast speed and I was thrown down the slide. I opened my eyes and saw that I was no longer touching the slide, but flying above it. The wave of water had thrown me so fast that I was in the air over the slide. I closed my eyes in fear and I hit the slide with a bang! I slid right into the pool with a big SPLASH. Half a second later I was submerged in the blue liquid terrified, wondering if I was hurt. I sank to the bottom, then shot up off of the ground with my feet pushing towards the air above. I wasn't the best swimmer, but I made my best effort to swim to the side of the pool and to safety, I looked around for my Mom, as I looked around I noticed the lifeguard watching me just in case. I made it to the side and pulled myself out of the pool. My mom asked me if I was okay. I told her I was fine and we continued through the day and eventually

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.

Do you stay back from enrolling your child for swimming lessons just because he is scared of the waters? If yes, then you are committing a mistake that will make regret a lot later. Swimming is an amazing exercise and letting your kids learn swimming from a very early age is the best gift that you can perhaps offer them. With a lot of swimming schools imparting swim instructions to kids, even toddlers and running a flexible schedule for your convenience, kids have a lot of opportunity to get introduced to the waters. Now, a genuine problem that most parents and kids face is a deep fear for the waters so much so that your kid might cry just at the sight of the pool. Such a scenario often scares the parents too and they get conscious about the safety of the child.

Our refreshing day at the lake was now a day of oppressing heat. Despite the more than warm weather, I had not exercised at all that day. In an attempt to get in a little of the daily exercise recommended by my soccer coach, I swam to the neighboring buoy. The buoy was about 50 feet away from the boat dock. The swim was not far, but it was far enough to make me breathe hard. It also made Katrina, Madison, Lauren, and Olivia, who had followed, breathe hard. Behind them, closing in on the buoy, were my mom and two younger brothers slowly paddling on their floats. About 6 feet from our destination we drifted upon a shoal. The shoal was rocky, muddy, and algae-ridden. When the filthy red and green mixture of algae and mud squished between my toes I cringed and refused to lower my legs

I am a water loving science geek teenager, who has dreamed of being a marine biologist since I was a child. My love of water started when I was four years old participating in my first swim lesson at my local YMCA, which I now work at as a lifeguard and swim instructor. My water passion has continued throughout my life advancing through swim lesson to club and high school swimming. One of my proudest moments was swimming with kids twice my age and keeping up the whole swim lesson, which for me was more of a practice. After that, swim lesson extremely tired, but could not wait to go back.

I attend my first swimming lesson when I was four years old. My dad was very serious about me and my sister practicing a sport, and decided that the best way we could learn was to start early. I remember me walking into the kid's pool and enjoying it, while my sister was already crying to get out of the cold water. Obviously, my dad was worried and took us both out of the water. We did not went back there until I was six years old and my sister was ready to try again. This time, the lifeguard took us to the middle basin, where other kids of my age learned to swim for the first time. I was myself surprised to feel so comfortable in the pool, among other scared children. We were taught basic moves, and then with protections of course, the lifeguard would let us try to swim. I was pretty excited to try to swing by myself and did pretty good for a first lesson. I improved overtime and were able to swing longer distance by the age of ten. I also participate in little competitions and arrived second three times. I was very proud of

I headed out to the water after setting up my towel. The shock of the frigid water took my breath away and I was momentarily stunned. However, I quickly recovered; finding my body adjusts rapidly to the cold water. I waded a few feet into it before leaning forward and swimming out. I didn't dare to go too far though, instead turning to swim parallel to the shore. I was comforted by the sounds of the ocean; the rhythmic pounding of the waves represses all of my worries. I looked into the cloudless cerulean blue sky and see the perfection of life. Just when I was starting to get tired and wanted to go back to the shore, I saw something.

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