Why Swim?

One of the things I ought to do before November 20, 2011 is to learn how to properly swim, which: shall be validated by a photo of me in an open sea without a life vest whatsoever and not looking like I'm about to die. Also by b. validated by a certificate issued by respective school / trainer.

Source

What brought this on, you ask?

Well, for one, it is incredibly embarrassing. I have been to the beach, and back, to the beach and back but all I do really are activities that don't require the knowledge of swimming, sunbathe, flap my arms in a reasonable depth of water {making sure I can still stand}, float and dive. In my most recent trips, I found that in the presence of non-Filipinos, it's embarrassing to actually wear a life vest and not be able to pass through underground caves.

The Philippines should be a world swimming power like the United States and Australia since our nation is an archipelago. What’s surprising though is the large number of Filipinos who don’t know how to swim. Hopefully, that statistic soon shifts to those who know how to swim. More so, those who can swim don’t swim enough because they think it’s too tiring or it’s too hard. They just have to do it right and do it often. This article will try to contribute to that mission.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

When we were in Mexico, I asked my stepdad {who is American}, why every single white person I know knows how to swim and the Filipinos, who all have easy access to the sea, doesn't {Disclaimer: This is my opinion and in no way meant to be offensive to my countrymen.}. He said that Americans {and probably Canadians, too} are all subjected to free swimming classes in school. Add to that the quality of public pools that every citizen has access to, more swimming lessons during the summer and YMCAs scattered all over cities and towns. Where he grew up {a suburban New England town}, they don't have beaches but they had indoor pools that allowed them to practice swimming every so often.

I couldn't help but endure the glare coming from my mother's eyes, as I remember dropping my swimming classes {as well as tennis, piano and cooking} back in the summer of my third year in high school, simply because I abhorred getting tan and all I wanted to do was lie in bed and read books.

Now that I am 24, always waking up to find myself in a beach, in a pool or some form of water, it's annoying that I cannot swim if only to save my life {hey, maybe that's taking it a bit too far cos I can float but what's the point?}.

And so, as part of my 26 before 26, I am enrolling myself in swimming lessons this month. My friend from work, Pumba, used to go to this hotel that offered swimming lessons under Bert Lozada, a popular swim teacher in the Philippines. When we shared a cab one time, she showed me which hotel she was going to for her lessons and surprise! It was our neighboring hotel!

And so I asked her again today, because I truly feel like an idiot not knowing how to properly swim, on how to enroll and how much the class was {just Php 3,750 for ten sessions!}. Since today is my payday, I decided to allot money to get one thing crossed off of my list and buy me a new skill to boot.

This weekend, I'm busting my ass off to enroll and hopefully, I start soon! Oh and of course I need to buy some new swimming cap {because chlorine makes the hair brittle} and some goggles though I totally detest the idea of looking stupid but fine. *pouts*

Wish me luck!




Bear hugs and bunny kisses,
Teeyah