Swimming - Relaxed A and Excited S

S started off with Mr. Tim in the Starfish level (this is the first level) at Gold Medal Swim School in June 2013. His first few sessions were difficult. But once he lost his fear of water (under extreme circumstances detailed here) he just kept going. January 2014, he completed the Starfish level and started with Miss Liz in the SeaHorse level. And couple of weeks back he had his survival jump, a requirement to complete the SeaHorse level and move into the Dolphin level. Survival jump implies that the student jumps into the water in his regular clothing (shows included) and swims flipping on his back and front to the other end of the pool. S did a wonderful job and was promoted to the Dolphin level… 

HURRAY!!! Time to celebrate… Given his fear of water, I never thought he would like swimming, let alone love swimming…

On the other hand, A has been with Miss. Amy in the Starfish level ever since June 2013. Though we wonder when he will move into the next level, it is a stress buster to watch A in the pool. He relaxes (to the extent possible) during his swim class. To us who are watching from outside, it feels like he is happily sleeping on the water. Instead of keeping his legs straight to do a  back float, he bends them, curls them and puts them at right angles to the water too. Suddenly he just sits up on the water because of which he goes underwater, gets water into his eyes and nose and, finally laughs about it. In his last class, Miss Amy asked the head coach to see if he was ready for the next level. And the only thing he is missing right now is consistency. He swims on his back really well, but only when he feels like doing it; not if he is in a 'not listening' mode when he is asked to do it. Sadly, that does not work for the coach. So he still is in the first level, extremely close to the second…Right now A's temptation to perform well during his swim lesson is swim goggles - we promised him swim goggles if he moves into the second level.

Give A's love for water, I never thought it would take this long for A to move into the SeaHorse level. But then I understood being comfortable in (and under) water is totally different from being able to swim comfortably.