Apart from proboscis monkeys humans are the only primate that play in the water just for fun and who?s new born naturally take to the water. So why when we think of getting in the water are our first thoughts about whether we
can swim or not rather than about having fun?

Although this may be an unusual approach for a swimming school to adopt it is the one being developed by Sue Brown of H2go swim. Here swimming is a skill you acquire while having a good time and relaxing.

Sue, a swimming tutor, teacher and coordinator spoke to me about how this `water lifestyle` has come about.

'I grew up in Sri Lanka being surrounded by water, and have no recollection of learning to swim, as I was just playing and having fun, but when I moved back to England and had traditional swimming lessons I found both the water and the teaching very cold.'

Sue went on to say 'Once I began my career in swimming, I realised people were missing out on just the pure pleasure being in the water can bring and that swimming is a skill which happens once they have the confidence and feel of the water.'

The `feel? of the water appears to be the key to this innovative teaching method and is supported by the psychological effects water can have on people. Most of us enjoy the feeling of relaxing, in a warm bath, or being refreshed by an invigorating shower. Even getting caught in the rain or paddling in the sea can lift our spirits and leave us with a sense of wellbeing.

According to Sue these psychological benefits are greatly understated as usually any form of water activity is promoted by what it can do for you physically. Although this is extremely important and is fully supported by H2go swim, their principle suggests the physical improvements of body toning, weight loss, and cardiovascular improvement happens automatically while water skills are learnt.

I asked Sue who the sessions are aimed at. ` The idea is for people of all abilities to be able to join in, and we help them to create and achieve their personal goals, which are often then carried into other areas of their lives.?

This can range from learning to float, improve fitness or swimming the Channel.

?We have found people achieve their goals and build confidence a lot quicker when the atmosphere around them is relaxed and they have control over what they learn. Many people try to learn to swim before they have any feeling of the water, this creates a battle ground. We just prevent this from happening. `

Each member of H2goswim has a personal goal, but they all start from the same point of enjoying the water.

Sue Brown

666 371 565