Swim classes aren't just for kids

By Judy Fortin
CNN

ALPHARETTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Blowing bubbles in the water is fun when you're a child, but for Stacey Mueller, it's part of a bigger endeavor. At the age of 45, she is learning how to swim. "It's very hard," says Mueller. "It's like learning a language or learning how to breathe when you're young."

Mueller is one of four adults taking a weekday afternoon beginner swimming class at the YMCA in Alpharetta, Georgia. Instructor Gina Thomas is in the shallow end of the pool within arm's reach of her students. She teaches a lot of adults who don't know how to swim. Thomas says each of her students has a different reason.

"People may have had a bad experience where they were taking swim lessons and went under or gulped water and felt like they were almost going to drown." (Watch how to be safe during boating seasonVideo)

Other beginners, like 27-year-old Naren Jangid and his wife, Dina, 24, never had a chance to learn how to swim as children growing up in India.

"I was really scared," he says. "Now I'm floating, and I can kick my legs without the flippers."

Thomas allows her students to start out slowly and go at their own pace until they feel comfortable in the pool. "I had one woman who took two lessons to walk down the steps because she had a really bad experience when she was young," remembers Thomas.

She encourages the new swimmers to relax. "They get tense. You can see it in their neck and in their shoulders."

One of her biggest challenges is teaching adults how to breathe in the water while swimming freestyle. Mueller acknowledges having trouble at first with the skill.

"It's hard to get over those first few sessions and not totally freak out there like I did a few times."

Thomas thinks it's harder to teach adults how to swim than children. "The adults overthink a little bit too much. They want to be in control of what they're doing, and it's very hard to do that."

Gaining control is a big part of the YMCA program. Instructors such as Thomas help students overcome their fear of the water, with a goal of lowering the incidence of drowning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there were more than 3,300 unintentional drownings in the United States in 2004. While there are no statistics on how many of those victims ever took a swimming lesson, the CDC estimates nine people drown each day.

Thomas argues that everyone should learn how to swim, no matter how old they are. She encourages students to stick with group lessons because they foster support and positive peer pressure.

Often she sees parents deciding to take lessons because of their kids. "If their children are learning how to swim, they'll say 'If he's doing it, I should probably do it.' "

That was part of the incentive for Naren Jangid. He admits he was afraid to stand up in the water out of fear he would lose his balance and fall in. Watching youngsters splashing around and having fun gave him the confidence to take the plunge.

"Kids can do it, and I cannot do it," laughs Jangid. "It's embarrassing."

Judy Fortin is a correspondent with CNN Medical News.