Coming Late to the Swim Better than Coming Never

“The truth is, the majority of people are not great swimmers–they’re just comfortable swimming badly.” So says Steve Cutt, swim instructor and truthteller to the appropriately named Jan Masters, who wrote this comforting piece in the London Times about her revelation, at the age of 40, that proper swimming was not some mystical gift granted only to dedicated athletes. Masters’ second revelation is even more useful: the relatively small effort required to learn to swim well pays off in major health benefits and yes, thrills. Her word–not ours.
“Once I had cracked it,” writes Masters, “cutting through the water was thrilling. As was simply plunging down, flippering my feet and enjoying the wonderful mermaidy lightness of being underwater.”
Just one more quote from Masters and we’ll turn you loose in the deep end: “Once adult learners get over their fear, they
often make the best swimmers, because they haven’t established bad
patterns. One woman I taught used to scream when she first entered the
pool. Yet, after a few weeks, someone watching her thought she was a
former competitor.”
Read more in the London Times.