Have you ever had a life or death threatening experience?

Were you given expert care afterwards?

Or were you just patted on the back and the words ‘you’re ok’ said and told to go home?

What would you say if I said that thousands of people in the UK or even millions of people world-wide have all had the same terrifying life or death experience and they have kept it to themselves for years and years and even felt ashamed to talk about it?

The experience that I am writing about is the none other than the trauma suffered by the careless attitude towards young people who have had an accident by being told to jump into the water during  swimming  lessons without the understanding of what was going to happen under the water, and sometimes even pushed into the water by the teacher simply because the person in charge was determined to make the child/adult get used to being in the water.

When in a local swimming pool being told to jump in the deep end,  falling from a boat, in a canal, trying to swim in the sea. What effect does this have when this type of accident happens?

When a person loses their footing or is pushed into the water in a swimming pool, the majority of the people around are not aware of the effect this has. They have no idea how terrified and desperate a person feels when they slip, or are pushed into the water even if  the water may only be 3ft deep.

So, looking on they may reason that all that is  needed  to regain their footing is to put the feet back on the ground, simple! But what they do not take into consideration is the struggle in the water is really a blind panic screaming in their head, frightened because they think they are going to die because they have no idea what to do to stop the water from moving.

In fact, when a person panics in the water they stiffen up the whole of their body whilst trying to grasp onto something firm to lift themselves out of the water.
The action of stiffening the body is the very worst thing a person can do because  it has the opposite effect in the water to want they want.

Professional swimmers, up until 2010,  wore an all on one suit when they were competing in the Olympic or the British Commonwealth Games. They spent thousands of pounds on these swim suits.
These suits because they are so tight makes the body compact especially around the hip and tummy area, this enables them to travel faster in the water simply because they are now streamlined. (obviously there are other swimming techniques that have to be taken into consideration.)
One English woman swimming competitor ripped her all in one costume trying to get into it before her race but had to pull out, simply because she would not be so streamlined using an ordinary costume

If professional swimmers were to try to swim effectively wearing pair of Bermuda shorts, also relaxing the hips and tummy, the speed would simply not be there in fact, the person would hardly move as they tried to swim, so the need to use huge amount of energy by using their arm stroke and heavy kick this is what would get them through the water, not the technique of being streamlined.

So, let’s go back to the person who is now struggling in the water trying to grab hold of something solid to enable them to breathe, their actions are in fact making themselves lighter because they are tensing up the body in the water and  this causes them to feel totally out of control.  They just cannot put their feet down because they are more buoyant.  Bearing in mind whilst they have their head in the water, they have no idea where they are in the water. They could be just underneath the surface, or they could be deeper. Because they cannot see where they are they are disoriented

So, what happened next?

Suddenly someone becomes aware that this adult/child  needs help. It may be the life guard, the teacher or  just someone who is nearby.

From my experience of teaching water phobic people to understand the water and helping them to learn how to trust it, in nearly all cases when they were hauled out of the water, (some have been given resuscitation, others after being hauled out are literally shaking from head to foot, totally traumatized) the whole experience is taken far to lightly and nearly all have been patted on the back and told to go home.

Anyone else that has been in such a paralyzing experience would have been taken to hospital or had some sort of counselling, but for some reason none of this is given to the person who, because of what they have been through, just cannot think properly to explain how they feel at that time.

The whole experience is never mentioned again, nobody understands how that person feels and all is forgotten.

But not so for the one who has had the trauma.

If this life or death experience happens to a child of about 7-9 years old whilst they are still at school and swimming is still promoted.

What happens after the accident?

This is what adults had to say when I asked the question “How did you get on after the trauma you suffered especially when you were at school?”

“ I was ok once I had made an excuse or forged a letter from my parents so I did not have to go swimming. I breathed a sigh of relief  and was ok for the next 5 days until the swimming came round again and then was stressed out until I managed to get out of it again, this happened for many years until I went to the Senior school where lessons were not promoted”

When I asked how many times they needed to do this, without an exception the answer was “All the time I was at school and swimming was on the agenda”

When I asked them (as adults) why they felt that they could not speak to someone about their trauma when they was a child, the answer was “ I felt ashamed” “No one understood” “I was frightened of my swimming teacher”

This treatment of such a traumatic experience is completely unacceptable and is compounded by the fact of feeling ashamed.

Imagine that!  Feeling ashamed for many, many years and  this  unnecessary feeling could have been stopped if the right action was taken when the accident happened.

When I asked them how they felt about the water, without exception the answer was “The water did something to me”  “If I get into the water, I am going to drown”

So, for the rest of their lives water is the enemy until they make that definite decision, as I did, to do something about it.

I now teach adults that the water can be their friend.

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Polystyrene Float Aids

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This subject is a very important one because when going down the route of learning with ASA taught instructors using your local leisure center, there are normally 6-10 people to each class.

Whilst it is not cost effective for the center to teach each people separately, it is completely understandable to use something that will keep the adult or child who is in the water ‘safe’.

Every person without exception that comes to my swimming pool for swimming lessons who have used these aids find that they just cannot  be weened off from holding on to something so, as a result, fear is introduced into their minds about what the water is going to do to them when they let go of their support.

Maybe as you are reading this and thinking “Hey that’s me!” Ok, if that is how you feel read on because this information will be of great benefit to you.

When the float is used (the white oblong polystyrene one) how do you hold it? That may seem a daft question, but I need you to really think about how you use a float, how do you hold it?

Do you hold it in front of you (and so you should) and as you try and kick with your legs in the depths of the density, using all your energy, do you lean on the float? More than likely you do. If someone were to be in the water with you as you were using the float and kicking, then took it gently away from you, what would happen to your hands and arms?

THEY WOULD SINK IMMEDIATELY. If that has happened to you, how did you feel? Totally out of control? Not going to let that happen again. Thinking that the water has caused you to fall down at the front?

Did the water do that to you, make you feel as if you were going to do a nose dive straight down into the depths of the water in front of you? A very scary feeling.

Actually the fact that your hands, arms and torso sank had nothing to do with the water, you did the action, you continued to lean on the water in the same way you leaned on your float. The water because it is fluid will immediately give way to anything that is heavy and you made yourself heavy by continuing to lean.

This certainly is not your fault because you were not taught properly how to use a float. I was ‘taught’ by ASA standards, in fact when I went there I was not even asked if I could swim (they may have changed the way they teach now). When I went through their program it certainly was an eye opener.

So, how to use a float properly when learning how to swim? Instead of leaning on it, use it as a mental crutch, in other words, hold onto it by all means but push it away from you and stretch forward making yourself streamlined instead of just dangling your body behind the float making your body heavy.

If you continue to push the float away, still holding on to it, and I came and took it away from you, your arms and hands WOULD NOT SINK!!! Why? Because the very action of pushing the float away as you move forward makes your body lighter in the water, also your hands and arms.

Try it when you are in the swimming pool again. Sit in the water with your shoulders underneath the surface of the water, don’t move forward, stay in one position. Get hold of a float lean on it and get another person to take it away, your arms, hands will sink. Now take the float again, this time stretch your arms forward, don’t move your body forward, keep your feet on the floor of the pool, stretch by pushing your shoulders forward and make your arms and hands straight, continuing to hold on to the float, but use the action of pushing the float away still holding on to it. Get the same person to take the float away. What happens to your arms and hands.

They stay on top of the water!

Of course learning how to swim needs a lot more understanding but this post will help people to see why they cannot let go of the float and use the water to hold them up. Anything that is relaxed is heavy in the water, anything that is stretched or tense is light.

Tensing and relaxing has its own agendas as you learn to swim, this is where my private swimming pool where you learn how to swim comes in to play. You will be able to go away with as much knowledge you can take in about the water, in fact your understanding about how the water works with your body will be second to none!

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Just another little thing, what holds the float up as you are using it in the water? A thought provoking question!

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• Monday – Tuesday
• Wednesday – Thursday
• Friday – Saturday – intensive

__________________

Monday – Tuesday 2 day program 9 hours

Monday Morning session: 9.00am – 11.15am

Monday afternoon session: 12.30pm – 2.24pm

total hours for the day is 4 and a half hours

Tuesday

Residential Students

Morning lessons  8.00am- 10.15am

Afternoon Lessons 11.30am-1.45pm

This gives the person time to travel back.

None residential

9.00am – 11.15am

12.30pm-2.45pm

Wednesday – Thursday 2 days program 9 hour

Wednesday Morning session: 9am – 11.15am

Wednesday Afternoon session: 12.30pm – 2.45pm

Thursday

Residential Students

Morning lessons  8.00am- 10.15am

Afternoon Lessons 11.30am-1.45pm

This gives the person time to travel back.

None residential

9.00am – 11.15am

12.30pm-2.45

_________________

Friday – Saturday program Intensive swimming lessons & tuition 9 hours.

Friday

9am-11pm.

12pm-2pm

3pm-5pm

total hours for the day 6 hours

Saturday sessions:

8am-9.30am

10.30am-Noon


total hours for the morning 3 hours

This completes the 9 hours swimming tuition

9 hours = £395.00
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For 2 people over 4 days

For 2 people wishing to share the accommodation at no extra cost. I provide swimming lessons that span over a period of 4 days. The times will be divided so that each person will be in the water with their own swimming tutor for 2 and a quarter hours a day.

The choice is yours whether you have the morning session or the afternoon session. This gives the person who is not too good in the morning to have the 2 and a quarter hours in the afternoon.

It is entirely up to the couple as to how they want to divide the time as long as they give me prior notice, i.e. instead of having all mornings you may wish to have the afternoon the next day. You will still keep the same swimming tutor.

As you will be completing 9 hours with your own swimming tutor the cost of each course is the same @ £395.00 plus your accommodation.
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For 2 people over 2 days

If you want the 2 days learn to swim program you will complete 8 hours and will be in the water on a 2 hour stretch each time.

This completes the 1st day and will give you both 4 hours in the swimming pool and allowing me to have 1 hour break in between each session. We repeat the same procedure the next day.

The cost per person is £371.00 for 8 hours instead of 9 hours @ £395.00

I’m based in the Midlands which has easy access from M1, M40-42, M25 or M6. There is also a train that runs to the local station at Burton-on-Trent (I can pick you up), also a good bus service that brings you straight into Swadlincote where I can also pick you up from there.

Your partner is welcome to join you during the time of your 9 hours course. There is a comfortable chair by the side of the pool where you partner can watch (providing you are agreeable)

9 hour course with or without a/c

9 hour course only £395.00 9 hour course + 1 night stay £435.00 9 hour course + 2 nights stay £475.00 cancellation budget alternative 7 hours £295.00 1 day course student return £197.50



Please email for details.

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Small Print

Cancellation of swimming lessons:

Cancellations made where there is 6 weeks before the due date of your swimming lessons are NONE REFUNDABLE.

In the event of a cancellation I will need time to fill your course with another student.

If I am able to do this, and this is a genuine offer, I will refund your money to the amount that the new student has paid.

i.e If you paid for a full course £395.00 and the new student bought that course on a ‘get in quick cancellation’ for £295.00 you will receive a refund of £295.00.

If your swimming lessons course is not filled and you have given short notice i.e. 6 weeks before the course is due, you will be offered an alternative date and your money will NOT be funded.

Training Services in Swadlincote

Swimming lessons in Derbyshire.

Just ’round the corner’ or ‘as the crow flies’ you will find me in Swadlincote. I have a private pool where I give people who are phobic of the water the ability to learn to swim by having swimming lessons in my private pool.

I had a deep water phobia  and really understand how a person may feel about getting into the water or, actually allowing the water to take their weight and rely upon it. As far as I was concerned to do that was just as bad as thinking about running into a burning building to try and save someone.

People who have been swimming for as long as they can remember have no idea how we feel. Everyone has an Achilles Heel sometimes it is just a matter of finding the fear that your friends, family have,  so because you are frightened of the water does not make you a wimp, stupid or a kill joy. In fact because you will not go near the water is a very wise thing you are feeling.

How many times have you read in a newspaper, or heard on the news that someone has drowned and that person could swim.

I really feel very sad whenever I mention this case: ” a husband and wife walking by the side of a river with their young baby in a pushchair. The small river was swollen and moving very fast. Their 2 dogs jumped into the moving water and because the two people  were accomplished swimmers they both  jumped into the swollen current to save the dogs.

Now ask yourself? Would YOU do that? NO! Very wise! But the swimmers did because they wanted to save their dogs, and there is nothing wrong with that. Ask yourself, what about your child? I know that as a person who is afraid of the water, your little baby would be your prime concern. You would understand that you may drown.

So do not beat yourself up because you are frightened of the water, because both of these people thought that they were ‘safe’ because they could swim lost their lives.

It is just that our fear is not understood by thousands of people. Rest assured that I have been there and as they say, got the tee shirt, read the book, got the film, got the cd, saw the play, and everything else that you can imagine. I know how you feel.

Contact me (Irene) and I will personally reply to you by email or contact me by phone 07877605292.

Look forward to hearing from you.

This blog is aimed at people who want swimming lessons in Ireland

I received quite a few emails from people living in Ireland who would like to have swimming lessons.

My private swimming pool is in Derbyshire and sometimes it is just to difficult for some people to get the time off from works etc. to come along and learn in this area.

I am considering the possiblity of teaching in Dublin at a hotel Regency Hotel..Drumcondra north Dublin, easily accessible to city centre and airport.

I have yet to finalize everything and am wanting to see what response I get from people living in Ireland and keen to take up this offer.

I shall be teaching 2 people at a time using the buddy system

Look forward to hearing from you all!

swimming lessons

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This article is for people who are thinking about swimming lessons for the first time, and therefore it is important to bear a few things in mind.

You must understand that although the water can hold a person up it will not straighten the body; therefore the correct body posture is vital.

Glide position

In the glide position, which means lying horizontally with your head in the water, slouching in the middle of the body is normal and the water will allow this to happen. This is the reason why it is important to learn the correct posture otherwise the relaxed part of the body will sink and not move forward efficiently.

In a typical working day the middle back area will slouch especially when sitting as the chair is often used to support the spine. Try sitting up straight without that support and the back muscles will begin to ache. When trying this for the first time you may only be able to manage a few seconds before the slouch returns causing the shoulders to bend forwards.

To obtain the correct posture of straightening the muscles that support the spine takes much effort and concentration. Slouching when driving is another habit that a person can get into and it is important to try and correct this habit. Everyone will get older so care and concentration in exercising your core muscles will reflect on your health later in life.

Most swimming instructors will have been swimming since childhood and will have taken a course with the ASA (Amateur Swimming Association) and have been taught the rather out dated swimming techniques in some textbooks. The ASA course is required in order to be able to be a registered swimming instructor. Because many of the instructors simply cannot explain every nuance of the technique, some ‘would be’ swimmers drift away from the courses they have paid for, thinking that they simply were not made to swim. Not so!

The importance of the glide position is the basis to any of the swimming strokes and cannot be emphasised enough. To be able to glide, a swimmer has to understand how the body balances on the water.

This is about swimming with the face in the water and therefore causing no damage to the spine. In this way a person can swim successfully until they are 90! Many people balance using their arms and legs so when they try to swim the breast stroke, this causes them to move their arms and legs too quickly through the water causing them to struggle and waste a large amount of energy. When swimming a 25 metre length incorrectly it can cause the swimmer to use approximately 35-40 strokes. Whereas swimming with the right technique, by correctly balancing, the stroke count can drop considerably to 17-20 strokes. The swimmer can easily swim lap after lap giving them a very good cardio vascular workout.

Where the balance comes from

If previously you have learnt how to ride a bike, ride a horse, ski, dance, or play golf then you will understand that balance is essential. In all aspects of sport this enables the person to get the best out of what they are trying to achieve.

Centre core balance

This is situated the lung area though a little lower down towards the solar plexus. In effect getting the right balance in the water is like a person trying to balance air on the water: two unstable elements therefore the right technique is required.

To understand these techniques imagine there is a ball floating on top of the water and as it has air inside it, the water continues to support it and therefore the ball will continue to bob gently on its surface. As a result the ball is affected by every movement of the water. This is what happens to the human body because of the air in the lungs.

How do you stop a ball from bobbing along on the water? Simply by applying pressure with your hands which gives the ball some stability. Of course you cannot apply the same thing with the human body but when taking swimming lessons you can apply weight to your own buoyancy. Learning how to do this will give you the tools to remain balanced and the stability you need to feel confident with your swimming lessons.

What has Dancing,  Swimming and Singing got in common?

Posture, Breathing and Rhythm!

Dancing

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Has anyone reading this watched Strictly Come Dancing?

Have you seen how challenging it is for a celebrity to get their ‘posture’ right?

Breathing correctly enhances the way a person dances too!

Take the boxer Joe Calzaghe (sorry if you reading this Joe). In as much as he has an outstanding career as a boxer,  no one explained to him that leaning forward all the time to box would have a detrimental effect upon his posture.

Whilst Joe was with Strictly, learning the steps and how to dance he always went into the posture that was part of his makeup, leaning forward.  Obviously Kristina tried very hard to help Joe with his posture so that he stood tall as he danced, but what a hard task it must have been for Joe.

I have watched every Strictly show because I am very interested in how celebrities manage to take on board the very elementary thing, walking tall and not looking down towards the floor about 10ft away. It is as if a person is looking for that odd £50 note (used to be a £1 when I was young!) During my time of teaching adult swimming lessons in my private swimming pool to use the water properly not only is the body posture the challenge but also the hands and legs!

Why do I say that?

Adults Learning how to Swim

The golfer: whilst concentrating on becoming streamlined the hands will curl in the water as if her/she is holding a club.

The IT/driver: When stretching forwards to become streamlined will push forward using their wrists making the hand rise up out of the water.

The person always sitting down: will use hips to move legs or push hips out of the water to complete a leg stroke.  The predominant movement is to push the hips backwards to sit down.

The person who sits on 1 leg/leans to one side: when in the glide position the leg they sit on will lie higher in the water causing the kick to be lopsided. Leg that is sat on will kick higher in the water , whereas the other leg will  naturally kick down.

The long distance runner: he/she will always drop their shoulders causing the legs to drop, no matter how hard they streamline their body. When running shoulders are never high. Have as mental picture of a swimmer on the starting block waiting to dive into the water, where are his/her shoulders, high or low?

The weight lifter: the muscles are very toned preventing the would be swimmer to learn how to relax or tense parts of his/her body to cause the streamline effect.

I could go on and on.

The person that swims already, normally from childhood and has a profession that  incorporates these challenges for the would be swimmer, can get away with work related posture………….read on for Singing….

What has singing got to do with Swimming lessons?

Once again Posture, Breathing and Rhythm!

Posture

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When a person learns how to sing one of the things they must master is the posture otherwise they cannot use their diaphragm correctly. As any professional knows, the voice ‘sits’ on the diaphragm giving the singer the control of the voice.
A person who knows anything about singing will NEVER use the throat to push the notes out, this is achieved by using the  diaphragm. Hence the need for good singing posture.
The singing posture is slightly different from swimming posture because knees are very slightly relaxed, whereas in the glide position knees need to be locked to get a very straight leg, but nevertheless whilst learning how to sing, one must also concentrate on more than the voice.
How they portray the song by moving  their hands and the expression on the face is also needed.  With more than one thing to remember, getting it right and being able to concentrate on three or more things at a time is the same as learning how to swim.
In fact I could also use the analogy: learning how to drive.

Breathing and Rhythm

Understanding how to breathe properly whilst singing is also a very big must. Although, when the singer is nervous breathing correctly sometimes goes to pot, this is not what I am talking about. 
Understanding the rhythm of the song, how much breath to take in, whether large or small is crucial to giving a good rendering of a song. 
I have heard many a singer take in a huge breath whilst delivering a beautiful song, causing me to wince, the result: the whole effect is destroyed. Learning how to breathe quietly and understanding how much breath is needed is an art.

When taking swimming lessons understanding the breathing technique is so important otherwise a person can easily hyperventilate.
What I mean by this is, when swimming and not using a lot of energy, people tend to take in gulps of air and so when they go into the recovery expelling the air, there is never enough time to get rid of it all, therefore the person breathes in more air on top of what they have left in the lungs.
If the swimmer keeps on doing this every time they come up or rotate to the side to breathe they will become seriously out of breath. So a good rhythm is needed.
Learning how to breathe when taking swimming lessons should always be the last thing to concentrate on because the only thing that is different between singing and dancing, your face is in the water when swimming.
Swimming efficiently is all about rhythm (I’m not talking about competitive swimming, short distances.)  The long distance swimmer needs rhythm as does the dancer and the singer they all need to understand the breathing, posture and rhythm of their craft.

The results of swimming. dancing and singing? A wonderful feeling of well being that lifts the soul and gets the endorphins released into the body that causes the high of well being. Endorphins can also fight pain,

p.s. once you have got your swimming stroke smooth and you want to get the rhythm right, you can buy a small ticking counter that fits into the swimming cap, this will help your swimming stroke and control of the water.