Learning to swim at the age of 15 - Essay Example

Diana Cantu Mr. Meaux English 1301-1617 17 September 2007 Time that Swims Away Life Time never waits for anyone – that means you, me and the common man on the street. On a personal front, my heart throbbed faster than that of a marathon runner’s, as I knew then that the time to reveal the truth had arrived. It even skipped a beat or two all this while but I knew for all the goodness that has prevailed in my life that I had to make a change. With a bang, my friend lunged off the rigid metal, and I lost the chance to procreate my discourse.

As we flew through the air, I saw the monster’s moist mouth open and preparing itself to grab me. It was on a rampage to literally swallow me and end the basis of my life. Terrified, I buried my sharp, long nails into the back of my friend’s neck attempting to hold on, but when we thumped into the wet surface, the vicious coerce tore me away and inundated me into the deep, bleak, blue water. At that instant, a stream spurted rapidly up my nose and I began to dread. In the aspiration of reaching the surface, I hastily kicked my legs like a tantrum-throwing two-year infant.

Regrettably, every time my head dashed up, the water immediately hauled me back down. I then had nothing else to do but wait for all I could. Seconds later, I caught a glimpse of my friend pacing towards my course. He withdrew me from the aqueous tank and expressed regret for what had happened by then. Then, I confessed that I was fifteen years old and did not know how to swim. I had made up my mind to learn how to swim. Period. Clock struck two o’clock – it was Thursday afternoon, my swim classes at the YMCA commenced.

Pacing towards the building, I swiftly halted when I saw my classmates there. It shocked me in entirety. Neither of the swim class attendees looked more than eight years old nor was their physique disproportional with their age group. I nonchalantly entered the water, whilst attempting to blend in, but within seconds, the seven elf-sized heads turned to look at me. I did not know what to do at that point in time. For all the goodness that could have happened then, the instructor arrived and started the class.

We embarked by learning how to cup our hands and rotate our arms. She even described the basis of our arms pretending to be made like the bus’ wheels that go “round and round.” Afterwards, she demonstrated to us as to how to place our bodies before diving as she held her hands above her head, palms touching, and her arms touched her ears all this while. She also gave us kicking advice in order to move quicker. She told us to do small quick kicks without making big splashes during the swim.

As a final point, after going through all the techniques, she began the drills. In the shallow water, the assignment involved retrieving a hockey puck on the left perimeter of the pool and returning it to the coach on the opposite side. The youngest children went first and made it seem easier than eating a piece of pie. Surprisingly, a couple of them completed the task in less than three minutes. As my turn approached, I wondered whether the exercise will give me sorrow, but I barely had time to ponder about it before I heard the whistle’s emphatic, ear-piercing blow.

I thrust into the crisp cool water and proceeded immediately. As soon as I took off, I transformed into a mermaid. I quickly made it to the other side and back, faster than half of the kids. I thought to myself, “Swimming is not too scary,” but then, my instructor flattened my false impression straight away. She said “Start walking to the deep end. We have to do our diving drills.” At that moment, my heart started to sink to the underside of the pool.By moving slower than a prisoner walking to her execution, I hoped to lengthen my collision with the steel board, but almost instantly found myself facing its white, sturdy body.

I climbed onto the device and progressed towards the brim. Instantaneously, my legs violently shook causing my body to wobble like a fragile piece of plastic. I came to the edge of the plank, but once I had seen the soggy, spiteful beast, I stepped back in a whisker of a second. Flashbacks from the night when I almost drowned flooded my mind. I recalled the agonizing sensations I underwent all this while, as I labored to stay afloat and anticipated a rescuer’s arrival for myself. Fancying surrendering, I turned around, but then saw seven sets of startled eyes waiting for my leap.

Moments later, my body’s frame converted into a straight, pointing arrow; then, with my knees bent slightly, I tilted over and dived immediately. When I entered the crystallized, sapphire blue water, my fears vanished right away. My body persisted downwards until my fingers browsed the light, round, silver puck. I picked up the object and clenched it steadfastly in my hands. Then, my arms became windmills and my legs seemed to be acting like the propellers. I sailed through the water faster than a 2400 SR3 speedboat and only bunged to smile and wave at the instructor.

It was during my first swim lesson that I discovered how I could overcome the fear as it had been one of the crucial pieces to life’s puzzle, for me at least. If not conquered, fear would set boundaries and keep a person from pursuing life’s grand opportunities. In a few cases, it would cause people to drown in hardship and be apologetic for not having had the courage to live fully. Therefore, people should strive to excel and accomplish their dreams without allowing trepidation to intercede all said and done.

Word Count: 1,002