swimming lessons

[Mulletino]

Re: swimming lessons

I never really liked swimming lessons at school (in the UK), even less so when force to wear a verucca sock. I still got a few certificates though but only up to 25 or 50 meters i think, never been a great swimmer but get by.
My school didn't have their own pool so we were bus'd to the local swimming pool. If I went there in the school holidays i'd rather get Chewits from the vending machine and play the Galaga machine there than swim.

Swimming seems to be a much bigger concern here in Australia though and everyone is encouraged to learn to swim. As we've our own pool it's important our boy learns early on the dangers of water and how to swim. He's been having swimming lessons since he was 6 months, he's 1.5 now so we always makes sure we try to get him to swim when we're all in the pool.

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

One thing that I did look forward to was the ride to and back from the leisure centre in the teacher's car or minibus, but with regards to the swimming lessons themselves...

We got undressed and put our trunks on (the boys did anyway - the girls had their swimsuits of course) - a lot of ironic and "satirical" observations by other boys with regards to body parts in the changing room which I won't go into on here as this is a family friendly forum. I cannot even say what one lad did with an empty Timotei bottle that he found in the male changing room bench either...

Anyway, through the watery bit between the changing rooms and the pool side (in case of anyone with a verruca and the like as people used to explain). We were not allowed to get in the pool from the side - always via the metal steps. The shallow end looked the same as the deep end and that frightened me - was I in fear of drowning, one asked oneself? We were in the shallow end of the pool, with a couple of floats but no armbands available. We held onto the side bar and kicked the water behind us. We did the odd width via floats at the shallow end, and even had the big "soup spoon" as I would call it to get people's hair wet.

Someone blows the horn (something that even my late mother did once - damn parent helpers indeed), and we had to get out of the pool and stand on the bench towards the wall. The instructor once reminded us about the safety of being in the pool, and about First Aid and all that. Someone in my class didn't want to get out of the pool as they felt cold. "I would rather be cold than dead", the instructor's response went. Someone else said "when you're dead, you are cold". Linked to this, we had water safety lessons in the classroom on Friday afternoons and had someone come in from some organisation explaining to us what that was.

Back then I was glad that Dolland and Aitchison appointments (as a result of a screw coming out of my glasses) were on Monday afternoons so that I could miss swimming. However, one week we were walking back and it happened to be across the road from the leisure centre - our teacher could be seen rounding the rest of the class onto the bus, and apparently she even waved back!

Another week after getting out of the pool I was trying to get dressed and someone had stolen my underwear and I never got them back either - very embarrassing indeed. It almost happened in PE a couple of years later as well. I hated getting undressed or changed for any school activity, and I am certain that I was not the only person who also felt like that.

[tex]

Re: swimming lessons

Two words....Chicken soup

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

Two words....Chicken soup

And it used to stink the school minibus out when we were going back to school, as driven by our PE teacher.

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

Probably not as bad as the chlorine however...

[tex]

Re: swimming lessons

Probably not as bad as the chlorine however...

Or the carbolic soap in the showers

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

Don't mention soap to me - I often come out in a rash when I use it. Anyway, I go there to swim not to have a bath.

[80sChav]

Re: swimming lessons

I am a rubbish Swimmer but Swimming Classes bring back many happy memories of the old Baths in my old Hometown (with-in another Town)

Too we had those Cublicles - Boys at on side, Girls other side of the Pool and you could literally run from your own Cubicles allocated - eg say 1 to 20 (and once or twice some nasrty so and so's looked me in or Wet my Uniform) but either way I got out by scaling the door or being a slim kid (under it)

OI will probably have Nigfhtmares over this now tonight as I often have dreams about Swimming due to my rubbish in-ability to Swim. Though going on 11 Years after "learning" (learning being the operative word) at Secondary School and going to a 3rd College and Studying a Sports Course was where I found the "Baths" I loved the best and went every week to these Baths as par the Course (and excsuing the on-line Pun) I had a "Whale of a time" and even gottan involved TRaining with the Water Polo Team.

Very sadly these Baths are no more than a Cra Park reduced to rubble when I pass it now - but that is also sadly a slam on the area as it has become a slum in general nobody in their right minds would desire to visit, but back then 19/20 years -go it was heaving full of old Shops where we all got our Lunch etc and like old an old Newsagent that had every magazine going! Oh .... how I do miss that place now and when I pass it - can offer it total pitty at what a great "Institution of learning to Swim/participating in Water-based Activities/and sport Based Water Games" it once was

80sChav

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

In around 1986 we had swimming lessons on Tuesday afternoons, and it was around the same time that the AIDS epidemic was frequently mentioned on TV and in newspapers. Before it was our turn to go in the pool, we sat on the side benches and saw some of the adult swimmers do their lengths before they got out of the pool so that we could use it. There were the obvious rumours that the swimmers in the pool could have had HIV and all that as we didn't know them personally.

A few years later some lad in his class had his hair cut to almost a bald head, and of course when we went swimming, despite not being a very good swimmer, he always given nicknames when in the pool such as Duncan Goodhew obviously.

[tex]

Re: swimming lessons

Here is a photo from the 60s of the swimming baths i attended with school....Regent rd, Salford

[Zincubus]

swimming lessons

Sooooo I lived about 100 yards from
Len Fairclough and walked past his luxury bungalow each school day - we were so impressed with having one of the world’s most famous people on our ‘doorstep’ UNTIL he was arrested for ‘incidents’ involving young children- in the public baths at Ramsbottom !!

Thankfully I would only ever go to Bury baths as it was far bigger and of course very familiar !!


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[Richard1978]

Re: swimming lessons

I used to go to a pool in Stockport with the changing rooms around the sides.

It was very small, bing only 5 by 10 metres.

We would get taken by coach from school as it was too far to walk.

Years ago the pool was pulled down & the area redeveloped.

[George 1978]

Re: swimming lessons

I just remembered that in around 1987 the regular leisure centre that we had our swimming lessons was closed due to renovation, and so we had to travel a few miles on the bus to another leisure centre which happens to be in the area that I live in now (27 years before I moved), and that was my very first taste of this area.

Our regular swimming pool had changing rooms around the sides as well.

[Danniella]

Re: swimming lessons

I remember going by coach to the swimming baths with the school. I tried so hard to learn to swim but it wasn't happening, anyway when we broke up for the summer holidays i went to the same pool with my cousin and i learnt to swim ☺ and i went on to win certificates for swimming too later on.

[Twocky61]

Re: swimming lessons

In the film the Full Monty Gerald says about when he went on swimming lessons at school

All those bikini clad girls gave him a stiffy

So he jumped in the deep end nearly drowning

Same here lol