The Chrysanthemums: Hobbies

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The Chrysanthemums: Hobbies
From a fairly tender age, watching people swimming at the beaches and swimming pools always made me want to join them. I also enjoyed watching swimming sports in the television during the Olympics. Slowly, I developed an interest in the activity. I decided to start practicing swimming in the school swimming pool. The first attempts were very challenging, as I had no idea how to stay afloat and manage to move forward. I was fascinated by the skills that the older kids had perfected. This kept me motivated, as I knew that it was a matter of months before I could swim as well as they did. The instructor was always there to teach the younger kids and other learners how to stay afloat. Learners were always confined to the shallow-end sections. There were floating barriers that restricted movement to the deeper parts of the swimming pool. This is because there were some cases of some learners who had drowned when they tried to cross to the deeper parts.
The first lesson was how to keep still and float naturally. The trick was holding breath and maintaining a posture that enhanced buoyancy. Each swimmer was also assigned a floater to help with floating. The floaters were skillfully placed in between the legs and held tightly. After several attempts to stay afloat, one would be able to maintain a position, which with time came out naturally. Eventually, one would learn to keep the head above the water and float naturally. The next step was to learn how to propel while staying afloat. It was just amazing to see people move fast in the water, just like fish do. The beauty of it was watching an experienced swimmer maneuver freely, momentarily going under water only to emerge some distance ahead. The instructor gave plastic peddlers that acted just like fish fins. These propellers were fitted like shoes, and they had long tail-like soles, for the purpose of steering. They were the easiest to use.
My liking for swimming slowly turned into a hobby as I gradually learnt to swim like the bigger kids. I found a part-time activity that was refreshing, and at the same time healthy. These days, I literally spend up to 15 hours per week at the swimming pool. I have learnt many styles, some which have taken years to perfect, and this makes the passion for swimming grow more every passing day. The main styles are breast-stroke, back-stroke, butterfly and front-stroke. The butterfly style ...