The Worst Swimmer in Class

I have a couple major challenges while swimming.

Putting my head under the water and learning how to breathe in the pool have been me biggest challenges. For the past two classes, I've been wearing swimming goggles and that has made a world of difference. I likely made the incorrect decision to lift my head up since I learned the basics of swimming as a little girl. Wearing the swim goggles and seeing underwater has been like entering a new world.

There are a lot of amazing swimmers in this class! I'm amazed by their "sprint" (I don't know if that's an appropriate swimming term) and the ease which they move underwater. But there is something that amazes me more than these speedy swimmers.

There is a girl named Gabby who shares my lane. She didn't even want to step in on the first day of class. She said she hated it and was going to drop the class. On the second day of swimming, I didn't see her there. But today she came again, with the expression, "What the crap am I doing here."

We were supposed to start class working on our kicks, and Pepper told us to use a paddle board so we wouldn't be using our arms. Gabby looked down the swim lane and hugged her paddle board, saying she needed to ask Pepper a question before she could go. I had made two laps and noticed Gabby still had not moved. So I told her I would go with her and we would just go a little distance.

She agreed to go with me, and there was a slight look of relief and even wonder when we got going. By the time we got out to about the five foot depth, her expression started to look stressed, so I asked her if she wanted to go back and she happily turned around.

When we were changing in the locker room after class, she said she was the worst student in class and felt so embarrassed. I told her to think of all the people afraid of the water. They wouldn't even be showing up to a pool, let alone a swimming class! 

"That makes me feel better," she said.

I am so glad Gabby decided to return to class. Something about her smile is so comforting to me and I love having her there. I have been that person who is absolutely terrified (it was a rock climbing class for me), so it is interesting to see this from another perspective.

Maybe Gabby once nearly drowned. Or maybe she watched Jaws one too many times and now believes he can show up in swimming pools, but regardless of her fear, she came back to class.

I am so excited to see where she will be in another thirteen weeks.