Learning Swimming

Learning Swimming

Chapter 1 In the village

Swimming was called "playing with the water" in the vernacular. It had been a scary term for me.

I could not swim.

There were two natural ponds outside my village in the field, one larger and deeper and another smaller and shallower. They were called East Pond and West Pond respectively and were only tens of meters apart. Nobody knew when and how they came into existence. They were the major venue for swimming. Most swam in the West Pond that was shallower. Only a few dared to swim in the East Pond.

Who swam there? They were the boys and male adults and the boys outnumbered the adults to a large margin. Adult just did not have the spare time. When they went there they were having a bath rather than swimming. There was no shower or bath in the households. There was no public bathing house in the village or even in the town. The ponds became a natural bathtub.

The boys swam naked. That was fine. There was no female around anyway. Females did not swim. Even if they wanted, they could not find a place. There was no proper swimming attire for females either. It was unimaginable for a female to go there for swimming. If it happened, it would be treated as a scandal and the news would be spread in the village very quickly.

Of course, swimming only took place in the summer.

I'd been to the ponds only once or twice. I did not even dare to come close to the edge of the pond.

There was great danger in swimming in the ponds. The ponds were natural. The bottom of the ponds must have an irregular natural shape, uneven and slippery. Aquatic plants grew on the bottom and extended above the surface. The swimmers would not be able to escape if being entangled in the plants. According to some, the West Pond had a gentler slope.

It was not surprising that some people had been drowned there. The second son of my neighbors’ family might be one of them. There were more. But all the incidents happened before I was born or was able to remember things. At my time no one had been drowned in the ponds. 

My parents did not allow me to learn swimming wherever. In fact, a lot of families followed such practice due to safety concern. Boys were made differently. Not all boys were as timid as I was. They just went swimming without telling their parents. They were beaten by their parent, normally their mother, after being found out. "Don't you want to live? Don't you know the danger?" The mother would say it loudly while chasing and beating the child. In the end, the child would promise not to "play with the water" again. Of course, that was a vacuous promise that would be broken again and again.

You would wonder how the parents could find this out. There was a Chinese saying "There is not a wall that does not leak air." Human beings are not good at keeping secrets. Or put it another way. Human beings relish telling secrets. "Knowledge is power". Sir Francis Bacon had said. Knowing a secret was a type of knowledge. Telling a secret could immediately make the person, especially a child, look important. That sensation was what a child would like to enjoy. Moreover, there were other psychological explanations. It was hard for people to keep secrets. Had Monica Lewinsky not told her colleague her secrets, Bill Clinton would not need to carry the shame along the way and Monica would not need to endure all the pains down the road.

The parents never disclosed who the informant was. The kids were not interested in finding it out. In this regard, kids were just kids. They tended to forget the past. They continued to go swimming when they had forgot the last beating. Of course, they would be beaten again and would make another promise.

There was another simple method of finding out whether the kid had gone swimming. It was to scratch his arm. If the kid had gone swimming and was out of water not so long ago, scratching his arm will leave an off-white streak on the skin where the finger nails had passed over. But this method was not very often used. The parents did not have time to do this every day. If the kid did go swimming, there was often an informant who would pass the information.

I had never gone to any of the ponds for swimming. I was a timid boy. I was afraid of death. I was a docile boy. I did not do what the parents did not allow me to do.

It was not that I did not want to learn swimming. I admired those who swam well. In fact, I admired anyone who could do something better than I did. My cousin brother was one year younger than me but taller than me. He was performing a leading role in many matters we were involved, such as making the decision where we would go for cutting grass for the sheep and goats our households raised. More importantly, he swam well. I felt especially bad when he talked about the easiness of swimming. But I inherently lacked the courage. I also believed nothing could be learned without a coach or at least a guidance book.

When the danger was nonexistent based my judgment and when the buddies were urging, I did try. I tried a few times in the canals when we were out cutting grass. The canals were built for irrigation purpose. They were of certain width and the depth but the water was usually very little that it occupied only the very bottom of the canal, forming narrow and shallow stream. Grass grew on the two sloped sides and in the water. The water combined with the grass emitted the special smell that was conveniently referred to as “the smell of river”. There were fish, frogs, and other aquarium creatures in the stream as well.

My cousin brother naturally became the coach. He was the only one who could swim. He told us to keep our heads up above the water and kick our legs at the same time. I did but it did not work. I was sinking. I had to hold my body up with my hands touching the bottom of the canal. That was not swimming.

It did not work. I did not believe swimming could be so simple. When it did not work, it was not fun. And there were other scarier things as well. At one time I found a water snake in the canal. Luckily I was not in the water then. If I had been in the water, the snake might have attacked me and I would be completely defenseless. At another time when I got out of water I found a blood-sucking worm stuck on my feet. I tried to pull it away but it did not budge. Someone reminded to use a clump of mud to wipe it away. I did and it worked.

I gave up swimming.

Chapter 2 In the university

A decade had passed and I was in the university. Swimming was taught in the physics education class in the first year. I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I would have the opportunity to learn the skill I had wanted to learn for a long time. On the other hand, I doubted I could ever master the skill.

I bought a pair of swimming shorts to get ready. The shorts were very tight. I went to the department store for a change but was denied. I could not afford to buy another pair. But it should not be a problem since the swimming shorts were supposed to be tight and short. (This was different from Canada.)

The first swimming class came. I was not certain that I would go for it. I could not imagine myself in tight swimming shorts in front of so many others. I was not used to expose my body in the public, so to speak. I decided not to go to the first class. Instead, I watched from a distance at those classmates. I wanted to get a feeling of it before I attended the class.

The pool was an underground outdoor type enclosed with ornamental fence. I saw the classmates. The boys formed two rows and stood on the west side of the pool, attended by a teacher. The girls formed one row only and stood on the east side of the pool, attended by another teacher. They boys and the girls were facing each others with the pool in between. Boys were in shorts that were really short and of a shape and size that covered only the critical part. The critical part was not completely suppressed and a protrusion was always visible.

I could not bear to imagine being with them. I skipped all the swimming classes. This became a laughingstock and I had been kindly ridiculed many times by my eldest roommate.

My thought and reservation were laughable indeed. I grew up in the rural area and had never been exposed to this scene even once. That was my excuse. In fact there were several classmates who were from rural areas as well. They had no problem. I was just different without trying to be so. In retrospect, I had to praise myself for not afraid of being different. This world demanded compliance. Today I may not have the courage to be different.

I gave up for the second time.

 

When I started graduate study in the same university, there was no swimming class and I did not think of swimming anymore. But a conversation with my roommates changed things a bit. One of the roommates said breaststroke was very easy. He would like to coach me.

He was ten years to my senior and was from the same province with me. We also had compatible personality. In fact, he also taught me and another roommate many other things known only to the married men. But I did not get full understanding and did not press further.

Another roommate was a very good swimmer and would like to join so that I had two coaches. They were confident that I could learn the skills in no time.  

The swimming pool was often full, like a hot pot full of dumplings, as people said. It was not a good condition for a beginner. We decided to go there in the evening when the pool was closed.

It was a clear and moonlit evening. We climbed over the fence and landed on the deck. In the moonlight, we could see things around in dark forms. The water was still and soundless. There might be a reflection of the moon in the water as well.  We quickly removed our outer clothing and placed at the poolside and lowed ourselves into the water.

It was so nice. We were the only swimmers in the huge pool. The temperature of the water was slightly cool, but just fine.

My roommates tried to speak in a low voice when giving me instructions so that we would not be heard or found. I followed there instructions.

I had no idea how much time had passed but I knew it was not long. By intuition, we felt something was amiss. We felt it at the same time. We got out of the pool and found our clothes were gone. Damn!

The pool was enclosed by ornamental fence on three sides and by the pool office on the other side. Nobody had climbed over the fence like us in such a short time. It must be the office personnel who had taken away our clothes.

This was not a complicated case to solve for three men of high intelligence. But we could not go back to the dorm in swimming shorts.

We went to the office and found a guy of our age sitting alone in the room dimly lit by a small light bulb. Obviously all of us knew what the matter was. We were about to apologize and give various excuses we were able to come up with. The guy raised his hand, forestalled our explanations, and nicely and gently asked about our department, year, hometown, and so on. We relaxed a bit immediately. We gave him all the information and we chatted for a while. 

"Take your clothes. Do not swim in the evening. The pool was not guarded. There could be danger. Please come in the day and I know you guys already. I will not demand ticket from you guys."

We thanked him, took our clothes, and left the pool for our dorm.

I had to say a few words about my other roommate. We had been in the same class in undergraduate years and were together in the graduate years again. He was intelligent, talented, and resourceful. He was never afraid of any situations and always turned otherwise awkward situations into favorable ones. He had proposed to go swimming in the evening. Although we had violated the rule, we were not criticized. Instead, the incident had become a friendship-building meeting. The pool guard was a human being. He was alone and lonely. He must like the opportunity of having someone to talk to. It is not that we were the only lonely people. Many others were equally lonely. We just needed to engage others to give friendship a chance. Friendship or acquaintanceship needed a catalyst to form. Sometimes committing something wrong created such an opportunity. There was a Chinese saying: There is no opportunity of interacting with each other had there not been conflict. So many people were in need of communications and friendship. This was just the world we lived in.

We did go to the pool once again in the day and the guard had kept his promise. I just waved to him and got into the pool without paying for it. I was wondering whether it should be considered a case of corruption.   

But I did not go to the pool for many times. I still had not mastered the skills. What I learned was just to move for a couple of meters in the breaststroke style. I was just not cut for swimming. I would live my life perfectly well without being able to swim. I told myself.

I gave up.

Chapter 3 Canada

I came to Canada in the beginning of the new millennium. After another decade of hard working, I settled in M City. There were so many pools in M City or any other city, managed by the government and supported by tax dollars. I was a taxpayer and I should use the facilities. My desire of learning swimming came to the fore again.

I knew I was not talented in sports. Maybe I needed to attend a small sized class. Hiring a private coach might be more effective. It would be expensive. But it would be worth it if I could master the skills in a shorter timeframe. I just had the thought. I was not totally serious.  

I got some information about Chinese private coaches and classes.

The Chinese private coaches did not have dedicated pools. They conducted classes in the community pools. The community pool staff knew it but did not interfere. These classes had to be arranged at time slots for fun swim according to the schedule. There was no flexibility.

The private coaches could be very pushy because the fee was not paid by hours but in lump sum until the student mastered the skill. To make better money, they would push hard so that the students could acquire the skills in the shortest time possible. This was not what I liked. I wanted to learn it slowly.

Knowing all these shortcomings, I still thought I could at least make a phone call to inquire. I located an ad on the internet and dialed the number. It was a female coach. She said categorically that she would not accept an adult man as a student. I was initially surprised but soon relieved. I had no problem understanding her concern. An adult man and an adult woman, dressed in swimming attire, being very close physically, and having to have some physical contact, might not form a pleasant arrangement.

Interestingly, a few years later, I met this very coach in a friend's home for a group dinner. I related this story at the table and she explained that an adult man was too heavy for her to handle because she needed to touch and rotate the man's body in the water. She explained in a semi-apologetic tone. But I still thought her explanation was more like an excuse. She just wanted to make others believe that she was not a very conservative woman who avoided interaction with the opposite sex. I was fine with the explanation. I did not hold any grudge at all. I had learned the skills anyway by that time.

After being refused, I decided to go to the community centers. That had been what I had thought of. I could not possibly be rejected there. There were many levels and forms of swimming classes. The only class I could and should attend was the one for beginners. I registered for the class at FM Community Centre, the one closest to my home.

I went to the FM Community Centre much earlier than the scheduled time for the first class. It was an evening. I did not want to be late. I also wanted to have enough time to look around and familiarize with the surroundings. In fact, I had the habit of arriving early for anything. I was worried about losing any chance if I were late. I would like to be an early bird so that I could catch a worm or two. I believed psychologically this habit reflected my internal insecurity. I had never got to the relaxed state of mind after so many years.

I sat at a table in the lobby and looked at the pools through the glass partition. Kids were playing in the small pool and adults were swimming in the main pool. Now I was a different person. I would be completely comfortable wearing swimming trunks in front of others.

I constantly checked my watch. When it was just 10 minutes to the starting time, I headed to the change room knowing that I needed time to change. At that moment I realized that I had forgotten to bring my swimming trunks. I had the towel with me though. Too bad! I could not swim without swimming trunks. I dashed out of the community centre and drove back home to fetch my swimming trunks. When I finally got into the pool again, the class had started for 10 minutes.

Swimming trunks were for men. They were large and loose, unlike the tiny and tight swimming shorts worn by men in China. They were awkwardness-proof, I would say. I was wondering why China had not adopted such attire for swimming.

Our class took a corner the pool. There were four men and three women in the class. The coach was a twenty-something boy. I got into the water slowly through the edge and immediately felt the effect of the temperature and pressure. I felt cold due to the heat exchange between the water and my body. I felt the difficulty of breath due to the pressure acted on me.

We started with the basics. We practiced holding the breath and lowering the head into the water and staying in the water for some time. That was easy and everyone could do well. Then we practiced “front float” that was to hold the breath and float on the water facing down with arms stretched and extended forward and legs spread apart. I was surprised it worked. I believed the specific gravity of human body was lighter than that of water when holding a certain amount of air in the body.

But I had problem with "back float" that was to "lie" on the water facing up. I was not sure whether I could keep my mouth above the water. When I did front float, I could stand up at any time by pushing my hands down. But for this back float, I had no way of standing up in the pool.  It was very awkward and could be dangerous. I tried a couple times and decided to give up on it. In the process, I got the water into my mouth for more than a couple times.

Based on physics, if one could float on the water facing down, floating on the water facing up should be possible. Some did great job, doing back float even better than front float. I just could not do it. Perhaps I was scared of the potential danger. The teacher suggested using a noodle (the cylindrical form of buoyant farm made in difference colors). I tried and found it was even more difficult to get up to standing position because the noodle prevented me from lowering my body. I had tried with noodles later on for difference circumstances as suggested by other coaches and it had never worked. It just changed the natural weight distribution of the body. Even today I cannot use it.

Then we practiced gliding that was to stand at the pool end or side, hold the breath, kick the pool wall behind, extend the arms forward, and glide on the water as far as possible. It was not difficult. But I could not go as far as the width of the pool that was 12.5 meters.

After we were ok with these basics we moved to the next step that was to learn "swimming". The coach demonstrated the way of freestyle swimming. I had known that breaststroke was the easiest swimming style to begin with therefore I asked the coach. He said freestyle was the only style we were to learn in the class.  It worked for me. My goal was to learn swimming, whichever style. I only needed to learn one style. I did not intend to learn all the styles.

The coach told us that when gliding, we should be able to turn our body to the side, open mouth to breathe, then swing the arm forward, dip the arm into the water and push back, at the same time turn the head to the other side, open mouth to breathe, and then swing the other arm. It looked so easy but I just could not do that. When I turned my body, I tended to sink. I was not sure in the action my mouth could be kept above the water. I dared not open my mouth to breathe. 

It could not be done. But I could not give up. If I gave up, there would not be another time that I could learn swimming. And I had paid the full amount of fee. I must continue. After a couple of classes, there was no noticeable progress. But I kept going.

Then another class came. The boy coach was not available and the substitute coach was a girl. These days women could do many things as well as or better than men. Gender equality must be promoted. She was not tall, slightly plump, and had prominent chest like every other swimmer. She wore smiles all the time and spoke in a clearer and more energetic and enthusiastic manner. The difference was to be proved again and again in the future. Boys were more reserved and serious. Girls were more open and carefree.

Her teaching was run a different way. She required everyone to do a string of actions and she monitored and helped one by one. This one on one style was fair. Even adults needed this attention to feel motivated.

I was not sure whether she saw this adult class was not as lively the kids’ class and wanted to liven up or it was just her style, she asked everyone to come up to the deck and jump into the water. I was terrified. One after another jumped into the pool and their body bumped to the surface and created a big “pit” momentarily by pushing water to all sides. I was on the deck but I just did not dare to jump. The coach did not ignore me. Her style was to monitor and help everyone. I looked at her and showed clearly that I was afraid. I hoped she could spare me. She came to me and locked her arm with mine. We would look like boyfriend and girlfriend if we were not in the pool. I knew that I would not be able to go against her order, or wish, or will. I glanced around and did not see anybody was looking at me. She signaled that we would jump together. I decided to jump even if it were an abyss in front of me. I could not refuse when such a pretty girl was holding my arm. If it were death, it might be worthwhile. Anyway, I would not die alone.

In just a second the girl said "jump" and we both jumped into the water. In no time my body stuck the water. I found all the references around me were different. I did not know when the girl released her arm. I just knew I suddenly formed a center and a "pit" formed around me when water was pushed away. I thought everyone around me must have been impacted but did not see any uneasy reaction from them. My thought was that I must not be drowned. I had to stand up. I could not end up at the bottom of the pool with all water coming back on me and engulf me.  I did not know how but I did recover and my head was absolutely above water. I was alive.

Everyone liked this girl better than that boy but this girl did not come to teach us anymore.

After a few weeks, I still did not see much progress. I was sad. When I tried to do what the coach showed us, it just did not work. I could not coordinate all the movements. When I focused on leg kicking, I forgot to move my arms. When I focused on moving my arms, I forgot kicking my legs. When I did both, I forgot to turn my head enough.

On some days I was frustrated because I did not make progress. On some other days I was elated because I found that I mastered a certain technique. It was like moving two steps further and one step back. Overall, I became better and better.

Finally I learned the breathing skills. I could only breathe on one side when I turned my head to the right. I could not do it on the left side. The coach said it was just fine. I could not raise my left arm as high as my right arm. It was fine as well. My arms hit the water surface too hard, causing splashing. My legs were horizontal and prevented me from moving fast. Anyway, as long as I could breathe, I did not need to rush the process. 

The coach wanted to see me swimming and I tried my best. I started from the end of pool and moved three quarters of the pool length. I realized that I did not need to care whether breathing is effective each time. When I missed my breath, I could hold until next breath. I did not care about my left arm. I observed the kids in the pool and they had the problem too. The left arm did not move as well as the right arm. As long as I could make the next step, I shall keep moving forward.

The class was over. I was glad that I could swim then. The only thing I needed was to practice, and practice.

Chapter 4 Beautiful Rescue

 

 

After practicing for some time and my skills improved. I became complacent. I forgot why I decided to go to HP Community Centre that early morning. Perhaps its schedule was the best. It was a long drive from my home and it was not on my way to work. But I was curious to find it out.

Perhaps a new swimmer was interesting in "conquering" all the pools.

It was dark in the early morning and I got the community centre with the help of GPS. The pool looked no different from other pools. It had a shallow end and a deep end of 2.5m. I thought about whether I should start from the shallow end or the deep end. I preferred to start from the deep end because I was sure that I could swim at least half length without problem. If there was any problem then, I would be in the middle point of the pool where it was shallow enough for me to stand up. The deep area of any pool was not large because it was meant for diving.

But somehow I started at the shallow end. It should be no problem either. Normally I had no problem swimming the entire length.

There were not many people in the pool. When I reached the deep area, my arm hit someone else in the pool. I was doing freestyle. I was looking downward. I did not look forward. I did not know where the guy was from. I had to say that I could swim but I had to keep my usual rhythm. If something happened unexpectedly, I would lose control. My way of keeping floating was to move in the regular pattern.

In fact, I might have never masters the skills of swimming. This was an interesting point to discuss. Usually anyone who can swim can keep him from sinking at any time. I could not. I had to do freestyle and had to perform the rhythmic movement to stay float. That was why people would laugh if I said I could not swim in deep pools.

This unexpected contact with someone else sent me immediately to confusion. I lost the rhythm. I must have tried to stand up although my feet could not possibly touch the bottom. I knew I was in trouble.

I saw two life guards on the deck. Yes, I must have seen them. I must have signaled to them or they just discovered that. They jumped into the water immediately or not. How could I be sure? They must have. They must have extended a pole to me and I grabbed the pole. One of the life guards might have pulled me to the edge. I was not sure all of these happenings. But I knew for sure that in a second or two, I was on the edge of the deck and two girls were with me.

So I was not drowned. That was a big relief. I was panting heavily. I was in shock. But these two girls did not wait a second to start asking me questions. "What is your name?" "What is your address?" I provided answers while I was panting. After taking all this information, they said I should keep in the shallow area. I nodded.

I swam for a very short while in the shallow end and left for work.

In retrospect, I realized that they needed to report incidents. That was why they needed information about me. They were in very relaxed manner and possibly smiling. Yes, they were smiling.

I had said that I had confidence in the public pools. It was true.

Hero rescuing beauties had been legendary stories. This time it was beauties who rescued me.

Summary

Swimming is like riding a bicycle. It seems impossible but it really is. A two wheel bicycle can stand on the ground in balance only when it is moving. A person can float on the water only when he is moving. Learning swimming was similar to learning riding a bicycle. Enough practice is needed to master the skills. The level of the skill is proportional to the time spent in the water.

Some are talented. Some are not. But everyone can be a swimmer for fun and for exercise. I was the most untalented when it comes to sports. If I can do it, everyone can do it.

At last, I could swim, only one style.

[The End] [December 2020]