Grew up in small town and during the summer the only group running swimmng lessons was the Girl Guides.

So me and three other guys found ourselves at swimming lessons run by and primarily for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

For first while was pretty intimidating as the girls were a lot taller than me and many of them were already swimmers. Some of the girls made fun of the few boys and others loved that the swim classes were mixed with guys.

But that lake was cold as I recalled in late June and July.

Girl Lifeguard Down The Street Taught Me
 

I was about 11 and the girl who lived down the street who worked a lifeguard offered to teach me at their home pool.

I was so shy around this girl. I was also so scared of the water. She made me climb down the ladder and ease my self into the water. First lesson I put my face in the water, blew bubbles and she tried to get me to float on my back.

After my lesson she seated me on the side of the pool and I watched her do a lot of super dives into the pool.

She was on the high school swim team and synchronized swim team squad.

Her sister who was my age was teasing me about learning to swim at 11 when they learned at 3.

I remember I was wearing the baggiest trunks ever that I was continually tying up.

Watching those girls do those fancy dives made me want to learn even more and after one or two lessons I wasn't scared of the water any more.

A guy named Craig at our Local YMCA taught my twin brother and I how to swim. I remember learning how to swim from him.

I learned in stages. First, when I was a little kid (we're talking like 5 or 6 years old), my mom enrolled me in a basic safety-oriented swimming class so I could avoid drowning. Then later on my dad taught me freestyle. And then in college my friend Aaron taught me the proper way to do the other strokes as well as improve freestyle and structure a swim workout to be more complex than just 20 laps of freestyle.

Swim coaches all pro, changed to a pvt coach, messed me around then self taught, had a few sessions with another coach but critical timing to arrive at pool required a fighter jet to arrive and now I refer to youtube, lots and lots of good info there but I still occasionally ask another coach to just briefly check and correct me on mistakes she sees and has helped loads

My dad taught me how to avoid sinking when he tossed me into a creek while fishing from a jon boat when I was six(ish). After several failed attempts to persuade me to jump in on my own he picked me up and threw me overboard. I wouldn't quite call my reaction as swimming but it sure as hell wasn't sinking. One of the best lessons I was ever taught. I've loved the water ever since.

Gramps Taught me to Swim
 

My grandfather taught me and my two brothers to swim. He also taught my sister.

Gramps grew up in time of nude swimming at the Y so we took our lessons in the buff. When sister joined us we put on suits.

Sister was the best swimmer in the family, she eventually did womens water polo and synchronized swimming.

My mom taught me
 

My mom had been one of the first girl lifeguards in her home town.

She took me to mom and tots classes and then I did swim classes. My brothers took me to the swimming hole.

I went to swim team at 7 and synchro classes at 8. Synchro was all girls and great swimmers.

I don't even remember....
 

We lived near the water when I was real young and all I ever remember was I was a water rat, as were my brother and sister. It wasn't until about 6th grade that I had any more formal lessons at summer camp and then later skills more honed in middle school on swim team and high school. Never did synchro or even heard of it until high school when I saw it live at Cypress Gardens Florida.

My school system had a pool, so swim lessons were part of PE class from fourth to eighth grade. This was also my introduction to brief swimsuits, as, until I was in the eighth grade, students were required to wear the school provided swimsuits, which were some strange off-brand brief. I can't even think of what they were called, except that "Ocean" was in the brand name.