Maybe it’s because I wear glasses. Maybe it’s because I don’t like my hair getting messed up. Or, maybe it’s the teenage swim "teacher" who told me to walk to the end of the high dive diving board and I’d get credit for jumping – and then pushed me off the high dive – at the age of five!
Whatever the reason, even when I eventually learned to swim (only after we moved to another town where my parents convinced me the swim teachers wouldn’t push me in), I haven’t put my face in the water when I swim. As a result, I don’t do much swimming.
This summer, living with a pool in our own yard,
I decided to push myself. It helped that I had bought a nose plug for our daughter, and I saw the kids wearing goggles all the time. I stole the nose plug and grabbed an extra pair of goggles and gave it a try.
My world has been opened. I still only swim a lap or two each day, but the feel of being underwater – and seeing where I’m going – is something I didn’t know I was missing.
Still not sure about a jump off the high dive, though.