April 28, 2013

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Greg Louganis and Me

Greg Louganis has long been recognized as America’s greatest diver.  He won gold medals in both platform and spring board in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.  Until his retirement from competition, much of his life was spent in or above the water.  More recently, he and his pets have been accomplished participants in dog agility events.

And me?  I am a Pisces, the symbol of which is two fish swimming in opposite directions.  Yes, they are definitely swimming through the water.

Nevertheless, when I get into the water, I am like a fish out of water.  Oh, I have been snorkeling in Hawaii and Mexico and have swum with the sharks near Tahiti.  I tell people about those experiences and they ask if I ever considered getting certified for SCUBA.  I haven’t.  First I would need to get certified to tread water.  Had it not been for the magic of flotation devices, I would have been drowning in the pristine snorkeling waters and drowning with the sharks.

My parents enrolled me in childhood swimming lessons.  However, we lived in a rural area, several miles from the pool, and whether I actually attended the lessons or not depended on my parents’ work schedule.  I learned to float and tread water and I could sort of move around the pool.  It never seemed important whether I really swam or not.

In college, Physical Education credits were necessary to graduate.  To pass PE, each student had to swim one length of the pool and back.  Suddenly my ability to swim became more important.  The PE Department provided me a swimming class, and I enjoyed being in the water three times a week.  By the time the session was over, I confidently did the elementary back stroke for the required lap. Continue reading →