Being a Scorpio, I know its true that I am influenced heavily by water (afterall, it is a water sign). I've loved water in all of its forms my entire life. My all-time favorite picture of myself is one of when I was less than two, taking a bath in the kitchen sink. The look on my face says it all!
I remember the first time I saw a "built-in" pool. I think I was between 3 and 4. I don't remember whose house it was, but I could see the pool through the back patio door and had to go out and see it. I managed to get outside and saw a flat innertube floating near the deep end. For some reason, I decided to try and grab it and ended up falling in. I remember this very well, and surprisingly I wasn't afraid in the least. Luckily for me, one of the grownups saw it happen from inside the house and snatched me out of the water.
My next recollection is from a couple of years later. My aunt and uncle had a Doughboy pool in their backyard. It was probably less then 4 feet deep, but I learned how to swim underwater in that little pool. I would pretend I was a dolphin (the TV show, Flipper was really popular then).
When I was 8, my mom took me and my sister to the Colorado Lagoon and enrolled us in a Red Cross "learn-to-swim" class. At the culmination of the class, students had to be able to swim the width of the lagoon and back to get their completion certificate. I managed to do it without any problem. I do remember getting a horrendous sunburn early on, but somehow survived it (although it's not much to boast about -- I see a dermatologist yearly due to the amount of sun I got as a kid).
By the time I was in Jr. High, my sister and I would pay 10 cents to ride the bus to beach. We had our choice of the Cherry Avenue beach (Ocean Blvd. and Cherry) or, we could transfer to another bus and be dropped of at the Long Beach/Seal Beach border (near what is now Seaport Village). We could walk across the jetty bridge and we would find ourselves at Rivers End. Seal Beach had waves and Cherry Beach didn't!! So, obviously, Seal Beach was better. At 17, I tried my hand at surfing at that very beach, that is until someone stole my surf racks off of my car in the school parking lot. :(
When I was 12, my dad finished building the boat he had started before I was born and we spent many weekends and vacations boating off the coast of California. Sometimes we would stop halfway between Long Beach harbor and Catalina Island and my sister and I would take a dip. Fish would actually come up and nip at our toes! I have no idea what kind they were, but after seeing Jaws in 1975, my memories of deep-water swimming took on a whole new meaning. Once I was able to drive, every free moment was spent either at the beach or at the stables with my horse. My favorite beach was Tower 21 at Bolsa Chica. The waves were always big and the water was cleaner than my local beach.
During my sophomore year in high school, I learned I could take swimming as my primary P.E. class, which meant I could swim every day, all year long! Woo-hoo! I was in heaven. In this class, I really learned how to swim. My coach taught me the basics and I ended up trying out for the girl's swim team the next year. I was a "B" swimmer (we only had one girl who was good enough to go up against Susie Atwood at Milliken). I didn't come in first in any races, but I wasn't always last either, so I had fun competing. I also passed the Jr. Lifeguard test (part of the test was having to "save" my swim coach, which was one of the hardest things I've ever done). After passing the lifeguard test, I was allowed to teach some of the non-swimmers how to get over their fear of water. I remember this one girl who was terrified of putting her face down in the water. I managed to gain her trust and before long, she was swimming. It was only the dog paddle, but she wasn't afraid of the water anymore. Here's a picture of my team from my 1970 yearbook. I'm the second from the right in the back row. My best friend at the time is sitting to my left.
Through a colleague at work, I learned about Masters Swimming. I had heard of it before, but thought it was for serious, competing swimmers, you know, a "master" swimmer. But, after hearing about it again, I decided to check it out online and found that in its basic form, it is simply a swimming program for adults over the age of 19 -- competition is optional. Masters Swimming is touted as a great way for adults (especially those my age) to get back into shape, regardless of your swimming experience. Goodness knows my knees have their bad days now and then, and I haven't kept myself in the best of shape over the past few years (and, don't get me started on the effects of "mentalpause", as I like to call it). Swimming is much easier on your joints than "dryland" sports or exercises.
I've been doing my own thing for the past 6 months, but my progress has been slow. So, I bit the bullet and became a member of Life Time Fitness in Gilbert. Not only do they have the best gym and fitness programs I've ever participated in, they also have a Masters Swimming program. So, Tuesday morning, at 0-dark-thirty (that's 6:00 am in real time) I will be attending my first Masters Swim and absolutely cannot wait. I know I'm gonna get my butt kicked, but it will be so worth it!
