Swimmer

I remember almost drowning twice. Once when I was six and living in Germany, and we had to swim in an indoor pool. The shallowest end was over my head- now that's not exactly right. It must have been three times. The first time I was four and in Oklahoma. I was hanging onto the edge of the pool right next to my father. My hands slipped, I went under, I tried to get his attention. He must have been talking. I struggled and somehow my hands found their way back to the edge and I came up for air.

   Getting back to when I was six. I jumped in and the water was over my head. I had not yet learned to swim. Later I remember having to change out of our swimsuit back into our clothes in a very open locker room. I never felt comfortable in my naked state. 

     When we moved to New York I was probably nine. I was swimming at the local pool, except I really didn't know how to swim. I ventured out too far with a friend. Somehow she pulled me back to shallow water.

   By the time I was ten we lived in Florida and joined a neighborhood  pool. I could not swim, but I
was signed up for lessons in June. It was April. I wanted to know how to swim. I watched. I saw how
your hands went over your head, one at a time and cut through the water. I saw how your feet fluttered back and forth. I practiced the arms first. Walking along the bottom, turning my head out of the water taking a breath. I added the feet, kicking wildly. It worked! I swam the length of the Olympic sized pool, treaded water for a minute, dove eight feet to the bottom, and swam the rest of the length of the pool. I proudly wore the green patch pinned to my swimsuit. Now I could swim in the deep end!

     In June I began my first swim lesson. I had removed my green patch because I didn't want them to know that I could already swim. We blew bubbles, we held onto the side and kicked our feet. Somehow they figured it out; they moved me into Advanced Beginners for the next class. It wasn't long before I earned my Swimmer's patch.

  I swam like a fish; side stroke, breast stroke, back stroke, butterfly and American crawl. I swam like a mermaid under water. I dove off the high board. I carefully scrubbed the tiles along the edge with a tiny bar of soap and a wash rag. All in exchange for a dime. A dime that purchased a frozen zero bar at the snack bar. I guess you could say that was my first paying job.