The adult learn to swim classes at the Mudgee Pool are well into the second week and already progress has been made by the eleven adults who signed up for the class.
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Swimming instructor Lavenia Whippy has spent the past two weeks teaching her slightly apprehensive students the basics of moving about safely in the water.
“This is just about teaching them the basics,” Ms Whippy said. “At the end of the course they should be able to swim basic freestyle.”
First-time swimmer Maureen, who didn’t want to give her last name so she could surprise her family at the end of the course, said that when she first started she could not even put her face in the water.
“I was pushed in the water when I was really young and I haven’t been back in it since,” she said.
“I feel like I’m doing pretty well after a few lessons, I can get my face in the water now and it’s not as frightening.”
Ms Whippy said that most of the people who were taking the lessons couldn’t put their heads in the water for more ten two seconds when they first started but now some of them were already swimming 25 meters.
Maureen said that her daughter-in-law had signed her up for the lessons but she was keeping it a surprise from her family.
“I want to surprise my family. They’re always asking me to come in the water with them and I want to surprise them when I’m able to get in with them,” Maureen said.
Sheryl Campbell is another first time swimmer who wasn’t a big fan of the water before she started. As a good luck charm and to keep her hair dry, Sheryl has been wearing a brightly flowered bathing cap during her lessons.
“I’ve always been frightened of the water. As soon as it was over my head I just used to panic,” she said.
Sheryl comes from New Zealand and said that there were no swimming pools near the schools so she never learnt how to swim as a schoolkid.
“This is my fourth lesson now and I’ve come a long way,” she said. “It was really challenging for me during the first lesson but now it’s not so bad.”
Adult learn to swim classes are part of the Live Smart Healthy Community program that is run by the Mid-Western Regional Council.
