Adults learning to swim through Dallas-area programs – Dallas Morning News

In the shallow end of the Jewish Community Center’s pool in North Dallas, two swim coaches are offering encouraging words as their students confront the waist-deep water.

Some are swimming. Some are floating. Others simply are putting their faces into the water, taking the first steps toward learning how to swim – as adults.

Coaches say adults take swim courses for a variety of reasons. Some see swimming as an essential skill that they lack.

Others want to overcome a fear of water, often triggered by a traumatic experience.

“The majority of students didn’t learn as a child, so they’re trying to prepare for a vacation or cruise, or to start a fitness program, or to learn general water safety so they can swim with their children,” said Jennifer Hughes, aquatics program supervisor at the Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center.

Many first-time swimmers seek lessons through the American Red Cross, which trains authorized providers throughout the community to take part in the learn swimming program.

“Authorized providers allow us to branch out into areas where the normal chapter can’t offer classes,” said Jackie Carroll, a Red Cross volunteer who has been involved with the learn swimming program for 27 years. “That way we’re able to train close to 200 adults every summer and reach the numbers we need to keep the program.”

Carroll said the popularity of the Red Cross programs for adults is partly due to the migration of people from other parts of the country and the world, where pool and lake access may have been limited.

“We have an influx of people from nations that don’t have a lot of swimming pools, and also we find that a lot of them could possibly have fears from their parents, who also didn’t know how to swim,” she said.

Given the immense interest in water sports in the area, many see swimming as a necessary skill.

“There is a stigma attached to not being able to swim, sort of like not being able to read and write,” adult swimming instructor Jim Montgomery said. “People don’t want to tell others that they can’t swim. A lot of these people end up in social situations where they have to miss out on the fun that being able to swim gives them.”

Student Julie McPhail said she enjoyed getting together with friends at the lake but was always afraid of getting in the water.

“I would go on the boat, but I was afraid to have my head under water,” she said. “It would be awesome to finally be able to swim. I could do anything: go snorkeling, go to the lake and jump in the water and know that I won’t drown or have a heart attack and die.”

Montgomery teaches a class at the Jewish Community Center specifically for adults who fear water. According to Montgomery’s website, the class teaches water safety, breathing techniques and other skills with the goal of being comfortable in the deep end of a pool.

Sue Royappa, 40, of Dallas is one of Montgomery’s students.

“I was practicing swimming by myself, and I had an accident and inhaled a lot of water,” Royappa said. “I was alone at the time, and my husband found me unconscious at the bottom of the pool. Ever since then, I’ve been terrified of swimming, so my husband signed me up for this class.”

While some students hope to swim with friends, others want to be in the water with children or grandchildren and don’t want to pass on their fears to others.

“I have a granddaughter now, and I want to be able to save her,” said Connie Nesby, a student at the Landry Center. “If she’s in distress, I don’t want to be in distress myself.”

Hughes said many students are learning for similar reasons.

“They feel it’s very important when they have kids,” she said. “You hear that from parents: ‘My child can swim, but I can’t.’ “

All of the students agreed that learning to swim would be a major accomplishment, no matter the reason.

“For somebody who has tried to learn how to swim but is afraid, learning how to swim is so important because it opens so many doors,” Royappa said. “Being able to get in the water opens up a whole new world of entertainment and exercise.”