In June and July, people often think about signing their children up for swim lessons, but sometimes you're the person who is interested in learning to swim. This is the case for Kartic. He started swim lessons, as an adult, in July of 2019.
There are varying levels of adults who want to learn to swim. Some are adults who want to perfect their stroke to participate in a triathlon, and there are those who want to learn the very basics of learning to swim—from breathing to floating to gliding to making forward progress to putting it all together and swimming. Kartic falls into the latter category.
He is no longer sputtering upon blowing bubbles. Instead, he is automatically blowing air out when his face is in the water and inhaling when his face is out of the water. He is no longer fighting the water when floating. Instead, he is allowing the water to pull him up to the surface. He is no longer grasping floatation devices when doing a back float. Instead, he is gliding off the wall on his back and maintaining the floating position for a few seconds.
When I told him that he should be really proud of himself, he said, "You deserve all the credit." I am arguing this point though because he is putting in time outside of the 30 minutes we have together every week. He is investing in himself to get a little better each time he sees me and he is determined. He is determined to not only float but to swim. He is determined to not only put his face in the water but to keep working on breathing while swimming. He is determined not only to make forward progress in the pool but to learn how to swim the front crawl.
I am proud of Kartic and his determination. I am proud of the progress he's making. More than that though, I am proud of how much dedication he puts into improving himself outside of the few minutes we have together each week. I can't wait to see what skills he's mastered this week.
Brandi Parsons is a freelance writer, book blogger, mom, educator, swim instructor, and authorpreneur. Her first book, Kidnapped Asylum, is now available. She is planning to release her first nonfiction book this year, Intentional Inboxes: A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Write & Respond to Texts, Emails, & Direct Messages. If you're interested in Brandi's freelance services or to receive exclusive updates about her upcoming books, contact her here.