A Watery Experience

Parasailing

Parasailing! I watched as my friends took off in the air like a human kite. How exhilarating.

I was on holiday in Sapi Island, Sabah. As I am not particularly fond of water, I kept close to the beach and observed from afar – the parasailors soared above the waters, helped by a colourful parachute.

I was contented with just swimming and snorkelling near the beach. This brought to mind an unforgettable incident that I encountered many years ago.

Ever since I was a kid, I suffered from hydrophobia. I only dared to tread in water in my bathtub.

When my two boys were nine and six, I felt that it was time to have swimming lessons. To give them courage, I decided to conquer my fear of water and join them to learn how to swim.

Children learning how to swim at the lower end of the swimming pool

We registered with the swimming instructor in our club. On my first swimming lesson, I had “butterflies”in my stomach. I still blush when I think about it – I was the only adult among the tiny tots! I was 36 years old then.

Our swimming instructor was very patient and my initial nervousness soon changed to relaxed confidence.

First he taught me how to breathe, and then float, in water. Next, I learnt how to kick water like a frog. Then I learnt how to pull the water back with my arms to propel myself forward. The final task was to coordinate all the above. Slowly by such sequential steps –

I learnt how to swim the breaststroke!

Incidentally my sons have progressed to other techniques like freestyle, backstroke and butterfly strokes.

Once I was comfortable with the breaststroke, my instructor then proceeded to teach me the freestyle. That was really difficult. I have weak arms and I struggled to coordinate my

arm and leg movements. It was an exhausting task to alternately lift my head up to the left and right to breathe in sync with my arms as I paddled with my legs.

One fateful day, I was at the pool early. My sons were playing computer games nearby and my husband was in the changing room. I decided to practise my freestyle. 

As some kids were having their lessons at the shallow end, I went to the seven-feet deep end (I’m a little over five feet tall!).

The shallow end of the pool was occupied

Like most beginners, I gingerly got into the pool from the side, slowly sliding my legs down, then my body. I stayed in the water for some minutes to acclimatise myself to the cold water – it was my way of warming up!

Then I started to swim along the width of the pool. However, halfway through, in the middle of the pool, I froze like a statue. My arms went limp. My feet could not kick. I forgot how to breathe and I felt myself sinking slowly to the bottom.

Swimming along the width of the pool

Fearsome thoughts clouded my mind. “Was I going to die in that manner?” I recall I said “No” in my mind.

Suddenly, I felt inner strength thrusting me out of the water. Then I went down, up and down again, a few times. Whenever I came up, I shouted “help” but it was probably just a whisper. In a panicky situation, my voice often fails me!

Luckily for me, help was at hand. Through blurry eyes, I could make out two gallant guys swimming from opposite directions (from two corners of the swimming pool) towards me. They were the club’s coaches. They must have seen me “struggle for survival” in the

middle of the pool.

I remember strong hands pulling me up and helping me to the shallow end. It was then that my family members came to my aid. I can only recall that after I was calm and rested, my family took me home. What a harrowing experience!

Following that incident, I had sleepless nights and strange dreams. But I recovered over time.

One month later, I went back to the pool. I knew that I had to conquer my fear a second time. I needed to show my kids “how to get up when you fall” – by setting an example.

So there I was again at the pool, gritting my teeth and swallowing my fear, to complete my swimming lessons. I managed to learn the freestyle although I could not do it as skilfully as other swimmers.

Conquering my fear was a great achievement for me. It was also family-bonding. During my sons’ growing years, I could join them in water-related activities instead of watching them from afar whenever we went for outings locally.

Personally, I find that swimming is a great exercise that I can do even up to old age. It soothes the mind and places no stress on the joints.

Recently when I had problems with  my back, my sports doctor advised me to swim as a remedial therapy. How glad I am that I can swim!

Swimming is a great exercise that one can do up to old age

Furthermore, when I go island-visiting with family or friends, I can enjoy the less extreme sports like swimming or snorkelling while others go parasailing or diving.

However, one thought still baffled me. I asked my sons why they did not come to my rescue on that life-threatening day.

Their reply was, "We thought someone was doing the butterfly stroke!"

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This article was published in the Star (Malaysian newspaper) on August 22nd 2005.
Photos are added here.