I must confess that I learned to swim at 38 years old, and it was thanks to a failed investment, but as they say, even from bad events, valuable lessons can be salvaged.
In my case, learning to swim so late was due to a disagreement between schools, although it sounds strange.
It turns out that as a child I attended a nun's school during my primary education, and we had as neighbors an also Catholic school but only for boys that had a swimming pool.
When I was about 8 years old, my school's administration considered offering swimming classes in partnership with the other school, called San Jos茅, which was one of the most exclusive schools in Asunci贸n at that time.
Unfortunately, the directors of both schools didn't reach an agreement, and just as the idea of swimming classes began, it ended there, at least for my parents and me.
After that, it never crossed my mind again to take swimming lessons, despite living a few kilometers from a military facility that offered classes in various sports disciplines, including swimming, to both civilians and military personnel.
In my family, we never considered swimming to be a necessary skill for daily life, so we didn't take advantage of the benefits that a capital city offers regarding sports opportunities.
It wasn't until 2018 that the opportunity to learn to swim arose, in a somewhat fortuitous way. I had been lucky enough to get an extremely good temporary job, whose income allowed me to have an interesting sum with which I planned to start a business.
At that time, I was quite tired of city life, and I had fewer and fewer job opportunities due to my age, so with the money I had, I told my parents to build a pool in their backyard and open it to the public to serve as a recreation spot.
During the first months there was a lot of curiosity but few customers, so I set out to learn to swim during the hot summer afternoons.
Between splashing and accidentally swallowed water, I learned to swim in my small pool that wasn't even a meter deep. At least I knew it was impossible to drown there. 馃槅
I must confess that I don't have good form, and that I'll possibly never achieve a podium even in amateur swimming competitions, but I think it will be enough to save my life in case of an emergency.
You never know when this knowledge might be needed, so the best thing a parent can give their children is swimming lessons at an early age, since it's a discipline that could literally save their lives and even those of other people.
Besides, it's an excellent sports discipline, and a fun and refreshing way to escape the intense heat of spring and summer, especially in my country, Paraguay, where it's hot almost all year round.
Nada es como nadar
Debo confesar que aprend铆 a nadar a mis 38 a帽os, y fue gracias a una inversi贸n fallida, pero como dicen, hasta de los malos acontecimientos se pueden rescatar lecciones valiosas.
En mi caso, el aprender a nadar tan tarde se debi贸 a un desacuerdo entre colegios, aunque suene raro.
Resulta que de ni帽a iba a una escuela de monjas durante mi educaci贸n primaria, y ten铆amos como vecinos a un colegio tambi茅n cat贸lico pero solo para varones que ten铆a una piscina de nataci贸n.
Cuando ten铆a como 8 a帽os, la direcci贸n de mi escuela consider贸 impartir clases de nataci贸n en convenio con el otro colegio, llamado San Jos茅, que era uno de los m谩s exclusivos de Asunci贸n en aquella 茅poca.
Lamentablemente los directivos de ambos colegios no llegaron a un acuerdo, y as铆 como inici贸 la idea de las clases de nataci贸n, termin贸 all铆, al menos para mis padres y para m铆.
Despu茅s de ello, nunca m谩s se me pas贸 por la mente tomar lecciones de nataci贸n, a pesar de que viv铆a a pocos kil贸metros de una instalaci贸n militar que daba clases de distintas disciplinas deportivas, entre ellas nataci贸n, tanto a civiles como a militares.
En mi familia nunca consideramos que nadar fuera una habilidad necesaria para la vida cotidiana, por lo que no aprovechamos las ventajas que ofrece una ciudad capital en lo que refiere a ofertas deportivas.
No fue sino hasta el a帽o 2018 que se dio la oportunidad de aprender a nadar, de una forma algo fortuita. Hab铆a tenido la suerte de conseguir un trabajo temporal extremadamente bueno, cuyos ingresos me permitieron tener una suma interesante con la que planeaba iniciar un negocio.
En aquella 茅poca estaba bastante cansada de la vida de ciudad, y cada vez ten铆a menos oportunidades de trabajo debido a mi edad, as铆 que con el dinero que ten铆a les dije a mis padres para construir una piscina en su patio y abrirlo al p煤blico para que sirviera de lugar de recreaci贸n.
Durante los primeros meses hab铆a mucha curiosidad pero pocos clientes, as铆 que me propuse aprender a nadar durante las calurosas tardes de verano.
Entre chapoteos y agua tragada accidentalmente, aprend铆 a nadar en mi peque帽a piscina que no ten铆a ni un metro de profundidad. Al menos sab铆a que era imposible ahogarme all铆 馃槅
Debo confesar que no tengo un buen estilo, y que posiblemente nunca logre un podio ni siquiera en competencias amateur de nataci贸n, pero creo que ser谩 suficiente para salvar mi vida en caso de una emergencia.
Nunca se sabe cu谩ndo se podr铆a necesitar este conocimiento, as铆 que lo mejor que un padre puede regalarle a sus hijos son clases de nataci贸n a una edad temprana, ya que es una disciplina que literalmente podr铆a salvar sus vidas y hasta la de otras personas.
Adem谩s es una excelente disciplina deportiva, y una forma divertida y refrescante de escapar del intenso calor de la primavera y el verano, en especial en mi pa铆s, Paraguay, en el cual hace calor casi todo el a帽o.
Original language: Spanish | Translation service: Claude AI | Image generation: Meta AI | Photos by: 