May 01, 2007: Adults Can Improve Swimming While on Vacation
For The Associated Press
During Elaine Mateo's honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico, she occasionally ventured into the turquoise water - but kept her feet planted in the sand. She donned snorkeling gear and used a float to make a few uncomfortable passes over the shallow end of Great Barrier Reef while vacationing in Australia.
But on a recent Florida getaway, the 44-year-old did something she'd never done before: She enjoyed spending time in the water.
Mateo, who grew up afraid of water, spent several hours every day learning to swim.
"I amazed myself," she said. "I definitely way surpassed my expectations."
The Atlanta resident is one of a growing number of people using their vacation time to develop new skills. Vacations centered on learning everything from swimming to cooking to camping have grown in popularity over the last five years, according to the Travel Industry Association in Washington, D.C.
"It runs the gamut from learning to how to swim to improving your billiards game," said association spokeswoman Cathy Keefe.
While get-away classes provide a great opportunity for anyone looking to hone a skill, they can really make a difference to people such as Mateo who are confronting a longtime fear. The combination of being in a new place and away from the daily grind makes people more open to learning new skills, said Dr. David Britton, a psychotherapist in Redondo Beach, Calif.
"Outside of your comfort zone, you're less likely to rely on your psychological defenses," he added.
Mateo, a psychiatrist, agreed. "It was easier to focus on what I was doing," she said. "There were no distractions."
She credits her instructor, Mary Ellen "Melon" Dash, with helping her gain confidence in the water. Dash, who specializes in teaching people with a fear of water, uses a combination of instruction on land and in the water to help class members overcome their anxieties.
Devoting a week to learning to swim is "key to our whole approach," said Dash, founder of the Transpersonal Swim Institute in Sarasota, Fla. She runs classes in Florida, Hawaii, California and Colorado.
"(Students) have time in between classes to ruminate rather than going home and being smitten by family responsibilities."
Being away from family also helps build a bond among students. While in Safety Harbor, Fla., Mateo shared meals and developed friendships with her classmates. The group quickly started rooting for one another, said another participant, Dan Olivario of Buffalo, N.Y.
"Knowing that other people wanted you to do well gave a feeling of security," said the 51-year-old lawyer, who took the class in preparation for a triathlon this August. "It spurred people to say, 'Yeah, I can do this."'
Vacation classes generate an excitement that enhances the learning, agreed Paul R. Lennon, founder of the Adult Aquaphobic Swim Center, which recently relocated to Palm Springs, Calif.
"It's so powerful" to see someone else grasp new skills, he said. "Students think, 'It really can be done. There's hope for me too."'
He has offered his program in California, Tahiti, Mexico and Bora Bora.
Total Immersion Swimming instructors teach classes all over the country in an effort to reach as many students as possible. The program, which uses weekend workshops, helps swimmers improve their strokes. The classes often attract athletes training for triathlons or looking to add swimming to their fitness regimen, said Keith Woodburn, who serves as operations director at the company's New Paltz, N.Y., headquarters.
Jim Hooper recently joined swimmers from California and Texas for a weekend freestyle class at a pool near his home in Denver. Hooper was amazed at how much progress he made by concentrating on the stroke for two days. At the start of the class, it took him 23 awkward strokes to swim the length of the pool. After 7 hours, he knocked it down to 19 smooth strokes.
"When you have those two- or three-day sessions, you have the tools to practice well," the 44-year-old said.
He's considering a follow-up class at Total Immersion's New York swim studio. "It makes sense to me to go to (an extended class), you make progress in a really short span of time."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
