It always happens that at least one student is reluctant to get into the water for the swim test. This is usually has less to do with their swimming ability and more to do with the cold air and water. One of our students was convinced that she would be forever frozen if she jumped into the lake and instead spent the next twenty minutes huddled in a towel, trying to psyche herself up for the Big Jump.
Justin and I did our best to convince her that the water wasn’t that cold, warm really, well. . . . at least compared to the air. . . . and. . . . you know. . . . it’s fun. . . . no, really. . . . it is. She did finally jump but we could all see that it took some pretty fierce will power on her part. Little did we know that the minute her feet touched the water that we unleashed a monster. A four foot tall swimming monster, that would launch herself off of any boat or dock and lurk in the water until Justin or I reminded her that we were, in fact, in sailing class. And while we do want to teach sailing skills, teaching students to overcome fears and embrace this cold and wet Vermont summer on Lake Champlain, is a pretty good skill to have.
