I grew up in a small Idaho town along the shores of beautiful lake Pend O'reilly, which has sandy beaches and clear water. In the summer there were public swimming lessons at the city beach; so most of the kids learned to swim at an early age. They had a little "Kiddy Pool" for the toddlers to paddle around in until we got old enough to get into the lake and actually learn to swim.
The first thing they taught us was called the "deadman's float". You laid face-down in the water while holding your breath. Gradually, we learned to relax while lying with our face in the water, and that helped us to overcome our fear of water, as well as teaching us how to float. After I learned to dog-paddle and float; I was sure that I was an experienced swimmer and could just float my way out of any swimming problems.
One episode of swimming underwater and coming up under the swimming dock (by mistake) soon taught me that floating was not the answer to everything.
When I was older, and had a horse; we used to ride our horses down to the lake, and take them out swimming in the water, which was a lot of fun, too.
My kids also learned to swim at an early age; so going down to the lake or river for a day of swimming was a usual happening many days in the summer. In the winter, we went to the Family Fitness Center, and swam in the pool there. I really enjoy swimming, and if a person lives where they have the opportunity to lean how to swim; it is an experience that will give you a lot of enjoyment in life.
