Monday, April 28, 2014

Fear of Swimming


Fear is an intimidating instinct.  It almost has a life of its own.  It talks to us; it makes our heart beat faster and even at times it controls our choices.  Fear is a vital reaction to danger.  It helps us protect ourselves from legitimate threats, it keeps us safe.  But sometimes, what we fear is far from life-or-death and hangs us up for no good reason.  And sometimes our fears can be overcome.

Being afraid of water is a common fear I see frequently.  Most people who come to the aquatic center with fear of the water are nervous to the degree of not wanting to get their face wet or not being able to stand on the bottom.   They are anxious about getting a good breath of air when they want one and not being able to save themselves if they needed to.  

People who don’t know how to swim are often embarrassed, even ashamed that they are afraid or nervous around the water and some are reluctant to admit it.  Learning to swim is a life skill.  Knowing a few basic floating, breathing, and stroke techniques gives the swimmer confidence to enjoy any and all aquatic settings. 

The best way to go from a fearful non-swimmer to a confident swimmer is to take lessons.  Group swim lessons are taught in a group setting of more than three people at a time with a single instructor.  They are frequently skill specific or age based, beginning to advanced adults for example.  Private swim lessons are taught one-on-one; one instructor to one swimmer.  The skill level and the age of the participant is unimportant because the instructor teaches from the students’ abilities regardless of age.   Typically people advance very quickly in a private lesson environment.

Beyond getting swim lessons, a few other techniques that assist in overcoming fear or anxiety of swimming are:  Allow yourself to begin slowly.  Start where it is shallow and swim only where you know you can touch.   Learn to tread water.  Treading water conserves energy and is a safety skill that keeps your head up when the water is deep.  Learn to back float.  Floating on your back keeps your face out of the water and can be relaxing.  Finally, reward yourself as you take steps to overcome your fear. 


For more information about learning to swim or to sign up for group or private swim lessons, contact Palm Desert Aquatic Center 760-565-7467.

Monday, April 14, 2014

FREE Lessons Given by Olympic Swim Champions


I consider learning to swim an essential life skill and actually believe that knowing how to swim and being confident in and around water is more important than much of what children learn in school.  Water hazards are plentiful and they are often labeled fun.  But without the skill set necessary to be safe in an aquatic environment they can become anything but fun.  Drowning happens way too often.

Reducing the drowning statistic and teaching swimming by combining safety, recreation, and fitness is a year around goal at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center.  That’s why PDAC is gearing up to host 8 Olympians for swim lessons, basic water safety, fun races, water slides, hi-dives and more at the FREE second annual Just Add Swim event on Saturday, May 10, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Last year’s inaugural event, then called Swim to Win, saw more than 2,000 area children and adults turn out to take basic swim safety classes with Olympic swimming champs and pool staff at the popular mid-valley pool.

The City of Palm Desert, who owns this world class facility, the Family YMCA of the Desert, and the Swim to Win Foundation are the primary sponsors of the event.  Their main goal this year is to build on the success of teaching area youth basics of swimming and pool safety.  

Eight Olympian swimmers; Rowdy Gaines, Janet Evans, Jason Lezak, Aaron Peirson, Brian Goodell, Chloe Sutton, Rada Owen, and Kaitlin Sandeno will be on deck signing autographs, teaching basic swim skills, and even swimming a few races.  Please join me at the center.  It promises to be an event full of learning, swimming and fun that will be well worth your time.

The free basic swim lessons along with use of the fun aquatic center slides and diving board features and races with the Olympians will be held at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center at 73751 Magnesia Falls Drive, next to the Palm Desert Civic Center Park.

Just Add Swim runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a guaranteed swim instruction time, registration is required.  Register by calling the pool 760-565-7467.