Teaching Swimming
I was certified as a Water Safety Instructor in 1964, by the Red Cross. This certified me to teach swimming and lifesaving. I taught swimming to my freshman college gym class at University of Virginia in the fall of 1965. The coach took the non swimmers to the shallow end of the pool, and I worked with the swimmers at the deep end. I had a key to the indoor pool, and occasionally took a break from studying with some buddies, and swam at night.
I taught lifesaving to a class of a dozen young black men at the Carver Center in Jax Beach in the summer of 1966. I was the lowest certified instructor, so the Lifesaving Corps selected me to teach. This was only the second year black people were allowed on the beach in Jacksonville Beach (They were previously prohibited by city ordinance) and there was still resentment toward them by many white people. It was a week long class and on the last day I took them to the beach so they could experience ocean lifeguarding. They all participated except for one young man who adamantly refused to enter the ocean. They all passed the class.
We (the corps) had Swim Week at the Sandpiper Hotel pool, which was a few blocks north of the station on the boardwalk. It was held after Beach Patrol Monday through Friday for an hour or so. We certified lifeguards and swimmers. I don't remember Swim Week after 1965.
I taught swimming at various pools and venues over the years. I always enjoyed it and felt good for helping people learn a valuable skill. As the human mind can only focus on one thing at a time, I taught 3 individual techniques (arm stroke, kick, and breathing) before bringing them all together. When I learned to swim in Hilo, Hawaii, in the 2nd grade, we were taught to dog paddle first.
At Sawgrass Country Club in 2000, I was guarding a pool, when a 4 or 5 year old girl, Zoe, and her mother checked in at our registration table. I had a Super Soaker water gun lying on the table. Zoe looked at the water gun, looked at me, and said, "Is that your gun?" "Yes," I said. She looked at me and said,"Can you share?" I'll never forget that as long as I live. Of course I said yes after looking at her mother, Paula, for approval. They were seasonal visitors from Gainesville, Georgia, and when they went home, I gave the water gun to her mother to take with them. They sent me a nice Christmas/thank you card later that year. Zoe hand wrote "Love, Zoe".
My other favorite little girl swimming story happened when I was cleaning Lois Bartlett's pool in Ponte Vedra in 2016. Lois kept Aslan, a 6 year old neighbor, after school until her mother got off work. Aslan didn't know how to swim, but wanted to learn, so I taught her for 15 minutes or so once a week after cleaning Lois' pool. She was sharp and learned fast. We got to be buddies, so once after swimming, I asked Aslan if she would go to the movies with me. "Nooo," she said. "Would you like to go to lunch with me?" I asked. "Nooo," she said. Then I asked, "Would you like to go for a ride with me in my nice car?" She said, and I'm not making this up, "You have a nice car?" Man, they learn early.
