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I cannot remember a time in my life that I didn't enjoy swimming. While we didn't have a pool in our backyard, a few neighbors did. If we behaved ourselves, we would be invited to enjoy a dip in one of those pools.
I also cannot remember a time when I did not know how to swim. I had the advantage of three older siblings who were willing to keep me and my younger siblings afloat while we learned the crawl, the breaststroke and backstroke.
Even better was the fact that our parents enrolled us in the summer day camp held at Oglebay Park. It was there that my true love of the water kicked in. We had serious swim lessons at the hands of our camp counselors and lifeguards at the expansive outdoor Oglebay pool.
Swimming seemed to come naturally to me. Once we mastered the basics of swimming and floating, we moved into diving. Mostly we would sit on the side of the pool and pretty much fall forward into the water. Only as we moved into the older groups were we allowed to actually dive headfirst into the deep end.
However I recall one young girl in our group whose only interaction with the water was dipping her feet in while sitting on the edge of the pool. Finally, I swam up to her and asked why she wouldn't come into the water on such a hot summer day.
Her answer was simple: I'm afraid. Well, I was determined to get her into the water. It took several visits to her poolside to get to the actual cause of her fear. She explained that she had been pushed into a pool and did not know how to swim. The panic she experienced left her scared to ever get back into the water.
I enlisted a few other campers and together we eventually convinced the girl that she would not sink because we were there to hold her up. Day and after day we showed her how much fun swimming could be. Eventually, she entered the water with the help of those many hands.
I won't say she ever became a world-class swimmer, but she was able to enjoy the rest of the summer alongside her swimming buddies.
Water is a much-needed resource for our land and our bodies. Not enough of it and we perish. Too much of it and it can be disastrous, as many in our valley know too well.
The best gift any parent can give a child is to make sure they learn how to swim. Not only can it be an enjoyable pastime, it can save a life.
Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.