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Posted on 08/24/2015 10:20:32 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
This VIDEO of my 6 year old niece, Genesis the Mermaid, proves that swimming is 99% mental. As recently as this past May, she could barely swim. Years ago I tried to teach her older brother, Kenneth, how to swim at age 8 but it didn't work out too well. He didn't really learn to swim until he was at least 12. Therefore, I took a completely different tactic with Genesis.
First of all, I only barely showed her the swim strokes. Instead I worked on her mind by getting her comfortable with being underwater to show it was no big deal. Just dip the head under the surface for a few seconds. And then repeat until comfort level goes up.
As an incentive, I promised to get her a mermaid tail if she demonstrated swimming proficiency since she is into the whole mermaid thing. It all worked out fine and the only major hurdle was to get her to swim in the deep end of the pool. She would go hand over hand on the side to the deep end and at first let go only for a split second before grabbing the side again. I encouraged Genesis the Mermaid to wait a bit longer each time before grabbing the side of the pool again until she was comfortable swimming in the deep end.
When that happened I got her a mermaid tale and the video is of her swimming for the very FIRST TIME as a mermaid. Oh, it also marked the first time I used my GoPro Hero+ LCD in the water.
I haven’t tried to swim in many years but back when I was young and fit, I sank . For a girl I was slim and muscular and always weighted more than I appeared to weigh. I always sank. I am fairly chubby now maybe I would float.
It’s amazing that just about anyone can lie on their back and float.
I can swim just fine under water. At the surface is another story.
When I skin dive, I wear weights so I can stay below without exerting energy from to keep from automatically floating.
I can’t speak for little boys learning to swim, because my own took to water naturally and fearlessly, without a care in the world. Swim lessons were adequate for basics and off they went.
However, for my granddaughter, no one inspires a love and appreciation for the beauty of water than raising her on Esther Williams movies. I grew up with Esther and wanted the same for her.
In our own case, under water accomplishment became an instantaneous goal for my little one from the time she saw her first Williams movie on TV, by age three.
Underwater ballet stories and competition stories and the English Channel swim story of Esther Williams movies take care of everything, as well as technique.
What a fun period watching her grow up to be a happy swimmer. Now she has enrolled in competitive swimming for her first year in high school. We expect nothing, but that she just continue to enjoy the pleasure of water and swimming.
Nice video. Good job of getting her comfortable in the water, especially with the leg binding with the mermaid tail.
Next step is teach “drown proofing” to your wife. Takes longer for adults to lose their fear of water, but once they feel comfortable bobbing and breath control the actual swimming basics are easier to teach. Drown Proofing proves to them they can stay at the surface regardless of depth below their feet. Calm water during training first stages is critical. And as with driving, a family member is not always the best teacher.
With breath control comes bouyancy control. Slowly emptying lungs will allow you to drift down to the level defined by body fat amount. You’ll know when to rise slowly to surface. Five minutes of repeats settles the mind better than any seated meditation excercise.
Yeah it doesn’t take too much body fat to make you float, so I don’t think many adults are going to have that problem, unless they are marathon runners or something.
The boy in the video is her brother, James Jones, 9. I sometimes call him Charlie Brown because he is like Charlie Brown to her Lucy. Oh, and I named him after the my favorite author who wrote “From Here To Eternity.”
You’re a “Peanuts” fan. Well meet the real life Charlie Brown and Lucy in the video. Lucy is Genesis the Mermaid and Charlie Brown is the boy, her brother James Jones, who sort of listlessly tries to get into the video. A very Charlie Brown type move.
Ditter, when I was younger I was really dense (no wise cracks, please!). I could lie on the bottom of the pool. I did not float.
While at Georgia Tech all freshmen were required to take Swimming/Drown-proofing. This course is the basis for the USMC Drown-Proofing course. In it, we were shown that we could stay afloat for at least an hour, even if we were sinkers. We were also taught to stay afloat if injured. Arms tied behind our backs or legs crossed “Indian-style”, tied and the rope tied around our waists, to simulate broken legs.
Even trussed this way, we were able to swim across the pool underwater, swim two laps on the surface and dive to the bottom of the pool and recover an object. To earn an “A” in the class, our hands were tied behind our backs, our ankles were tied together and we had to swim from the shallow end to the deep end, bob for 20 breaths and return to the shallow end.
Even I, a sinker, was taught to accomplish this. You can stay alive in the water, even when injured, for a long, long time, if hypothermia or “critters” don’t get to you.
Imitation is a strong motivator.
She showed no fear with her new tail.
LOL! So you understand that I did not float either.
I could not lay on my back and float when I was younger. Relaxed, head up and breathing, I would slowly slip under the water.
Wow that is great idea.
Other people have told her to be scared of the water.
Respect isnt being frightened.
I’m so glad you agree. Esther movies, you may already know, play on Turner Classic Movie channel (TCM) all summer, every summer. I just kept all of them recorded particularly the ones that were swim intensive. But, they can be ordered from TCM too, probably Amazon also, etc.
I’m so glad you agree. Esther movies, you may already know, play on Turner Classic Movie channel (TCM) all summer, every summer. I just kept all of them recorded particularly the ones that were swim intensive. But, they can be ordered from TCM too, probably Amazon also, etc.
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