“This Girl Can” Support

4 minute read

Start as you mean to go on, they say.

It’s a Saturday morning: swim lesson day. Yay!

As usual, I arrive a few minutes before my class starts. The 25-meter pool is only occupied by a handful of six- and seven-year-olds having their morning swim lesson. With enthusiasm and a pinch of trepidation, they jump into the shallow end and edge their way towards the deep end, their teacher trailing alongside. The excitement and thrill of going where their feet cannot touch the ground is palpable from the poolside.

I backwards climb down the steps into the cool water at the shallow end of the pool.

My feet have barely touched the bottom when I hear from the far end of the pool, the children’s swimming instructor say to the lifeguard perched on his high chair:

‘Should that lady be getting into the pool?’

There’s always someone who wants to rain on your parade.

I point towards the middle lane and mime ‘I’m going over there’, as I wade towards the widest lane in the pool. This seems to appease the territorial swim teacher, and the concerned lifeguard relaxes back into his chair.

There’s no time for silly disruptions to my first official day of indoor swim training.

Start as you mean to go on, remember?

Chuffed I’ve got the whole lane to myself, I start with 2 lengths of front crawl, 2 lengths of backstroke, and top off my warm-up with 4 lengths of butterfly – without pausing.

This girl is on fire.

Observing my swim prowess, the policewoman / swim teacher instantly regrets her challenge. Enthralled, her learners cling to the horizontal steel pole lining the edge of the pool, straining their small necks to watch me dominate the middle lane like a competitive swimmer.

Start as you mean to go on, they say.

I wish.

Unfortunately, my warm-up didn’t quite span out like that…

Instead, after a relatively steady front crawl to the other end of the pool, I’m clinging tightly to the steel pole just like the six- and seven-year-olds, only instead of their giddy excitement, I’m gasping for air. Urgently, I exhale the chlorinated water that has annoyingly made its way up my nose. This can’t look pretty, but thankfully, no one is interested in my nasal struggles. I really hate water going up my nose and I’ll do anything to get it out. I expel the remnants of water by shaking my head like a drenched dog. There’s more dog-like head shaking and nose pinching to extract pool water, snot and God knows what, in my efforts to quell the stinging sensation in my nostrils, before I go for another lap.

Start as you mean to go on.

This time, I don’t even make it to the other end of the pool and my heart is beating frantically against my chest as I pant for breath.

For everything I lack in stamina, I make up for in enthusiasm and determination. Okay, I might not be able to conduct a successful independent warm-up session, but that’s exactly why I go to swimming lessons. It’s the guidance, the repetition and the community vibes that keep me returning every week.

I console my ego by reminding myself that it’s never wise to exhaust yourself too much before my swim lesson with Sakina, the first instructor I’ve ever had as an adult swimmer. Her lessons are a workout as much as they are on technique and efficiency in the water.

By now, two other pool classmates have joined me in the shallow end and Sakina has pulled up a chair in front of us at the edge of the poolside. We always start off our sessions with a brief catch up so after everyone has shared, I’m ready to share my good news.

“You know the campaign “This Girl Can?”’ I ask.

Sakina knows but my swim lesson buddies don’t. I explain:

“It’s a campaign that encourages women to get active through exercise and sports”.

They nod back, a mixture of confusion and expectation.

“Well, I’m one of the girls” I say with a happy smile.

The three women congratulate me with big smiles and words of encouragement. Although we have only connected during our time at these swimming lessons, I can tell they genuinely want me to do well. Now this is what I love about swimming lessons: the community support. You don’t need to know someone well to big them up for any amount of progress they make in the water. You don’t need to know someone well to big them up as they take on their first open water swimming event. And ultimately, that is what will keep me going when I swim the Henley mile in July – not how fast or how perfect my front crawl is. It’s the support I have from friends, family and all the other swimmers I will be swimming alongside on the Henley mile, that will keep me going.

Let’s start as we mean to go on.