For many adults, putting on a swimsuit and heading to play in the water, whether it be on a boat, in a pool, or even a local pond or lake is terrifying. It isn’t a question of feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable in their swimsuit, it’s because they can’t swim.
Roughly 54% of Americans are unable to swim at a proficient level. They might be able to float or splash around, but if they were to fall into a pool with water that went over their head, they would be unable to surface, swim to the side of the pool, or exit without the use of a ladder.
Learning how to swim is important for everyone, and it’s not just kids who can take swim lessons. SwimJim offers private adult swim lessons to make sure that adults are comfortable in the water and able to enjoy themselves.
Benefits of Learning How to Swim
Swimming is a skill that you can enjoy your entire life. Here are just a few of the benefits of taking private swim lessons.
Prevent Drownings
In the United States, there is an average of 10 deaths per day by drowning. These deaths could be prevented if the victims knew how to swim. These deaths include both children and adults. Learning how to swim as an adult can help you stay safe in the water.
As you become a strong swimmer, not only do you keep yourself safe around water, but you can help those who are inexperienced. While there is no replacement for safety and training near water, a strong swimmer can save lives if an emergency happens.
For example, Joe Flanagan from Tacuna Systems never learned to swim as a child and he remembers missing out on fun water-based activities with his friends. As an adult, he had an experience that pushed him to learn to swim. While on vacation with friends, one member of their group fell into the pool. While his friend was in the water, he quickly learned that out of the group he was with, only one of them was a confident swimmer and could help. He realized then that in a life and death situation like that, the ability to swim is extremely crucial.
Overcoming Fears
For some people, their aquaphobia is so strong that they panic if they get close to water, and getting their face wet can be a herculean task. This fear can severely limit any person’s lifestyle.
Adult swim lessons cater directly to those people who are uncomfortable or afraid of the water. One of the biggest hurdles a SwimJim class starts with is trying to help everyone feel safe and secure while in the water and then slowly work up to increasing each student’s level of comfort in the water.
At SwimJim, our goal is to help you overcome your fears, sometimes fears that you’ve had since childhood.
Dr. Ozioma Peace Uche shared with us a story about when she was 10 years old and jumped into a pool as a non-comfortable swimmer. If it wasn’t for a trained swimmer, she wouldn’t be alive.
Moments like that can stop a child from wanting to learn how to swim, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t swim. At SwimJim, we understand that adult swimmers might have fear around the water. We try to work with you in building confidence so you can become the swimmer you know you are.
Participate in Fun
For many people, summer just isn’t complete until they visit a beach, go out on their boat, or cool off in a pool. For them, spending time in or around water is part of life, and they invite everyone they can to enjoy the fun with them.
For adults who don’t know how to swim, this can be debilitating. Rather than being able to spend quality time with their friends, they have to stand idly on the sidelines.
Sherry Belul shared a story with us about how she gets sad when she goes to a pool because others are playing games in the deep end of the pool, and she’s too afraid to join in because she has to hold on to the side. As a teenager, she felt like an outsider when her friends would hold pool parties, and that feeling has only grown since. Sherry says that although she’s spent 55 years as a non-swimmer, her goal is to be comfortable in the water by the time she’s 60. We think that she is the perfect age to do it, as it’s never too late to learn how to swim.
What to Expect
If you want to learn how to swim, you should consider SwimJim’s swim lessons for adults. These lessons give you valuable one-on-one instruction with a trained teacher who will help you get the results that you are looking for.
The first thing that we will do is gauge what level of comfort and skill you have in the water. No matter what your starting level is, we can help you feel more comfortable and confident.
SwimJim coaches will help you learn how to support yourself on the surface of the water by floating. Some people think that this is an impossible task, but everyone floats—all it takes is a little bit of knowledge and comfort. From there, we will start to work on the basics of movement in the water, including breathing. At that point, you can start to learn and refine the eight different swimming strokes and start to build your strength in the water.
And, don’t tell this to our younger students, but swim lessons for adults are some of our favorite classes to teach. We love that you have a goal and we firmly believe that it’s never too late to change your life and learn how to swim.