Back in the summer I made a vow to myself that I would become stronger and fitter and, more specifically, a better swimmer. Actually, I put it on Facebook so I was clearly already of the opinion that having an audience was likely to be motivating.
We were on holiday and my son (who's eight) was swept out to sea on an inflatable crocodile at terrifying speed. It happened so fast; I was sitting on the edge of the water, reading, when he started to drift; there was nothing I could do. His dad swam as fast and as far as he could until he feared he would drown and be no use to anyone. He turned back to get the man who runs boat trips out , while I stood powerless and weeping on the shore being comforted by the international community. The most familiar of beaches can fool you. We'd been on that one countless times and usually the wind is off the sea driving everything relentlessly shore wards; it had changed that day and we hadn't noticed. I made a great big, hysterical, blubbering spectacle of myself, but it wasn't exactly the time to be cool. People were very kind. In the end, he was rescued by a German lady who saw the whole thing unfold. She swam out to him with the most amazing power and speed and was the image of calm, determined, confidence as she got behind him and pushed him all the way back in.
It was all a bit of a trauma. We lost several nights' sleep going over the "what ifs". Holiday makers, the difference between, "Hang on a sec; I'll wade out and pull you in", and, "Too far! Too fast! Too deep!" is about two seconds. Don't make the same mistake.
I had to say thank you to the German lady every time I ran into her after that; I honestly think the poor woman started to avoid me as she couldn't stand my abject fawning anymore. Anyway, the nearness of death and hideous embarrassment are powerful motivators and some combination of the two made me determined that swimming would be the thing. I don't ever expect to be as good a swimmer as my German heroine but I'd like to be confident that I could rescue my own children from an inflatable crocodile incident. So, swimming lessons it will have to be.
