I love the sea and I am now in a serious relationship with surfing. But my feelings for the water weren’t always positive. As a young child, I was deathly scared of the water. I never dared to venture away from the safety of pool sides and the shallow beach.

My father, a champion swimmer in high school and college and also a swim instructor, was unsuccessful in teaching me how to swim. I remember him pushing me to the middle of a pool (during a company-family outing). I struggled and took in lots of water. If this is the first lesson in swimming, then I hate swimming. I don’t want to die young. It was only years later that I found out that this method (if you can call it that) is normal. This is to activate a kid’s natural ability to tread when in the water. Sorry, my inborn ability must be “panic”.

As an adult, I started to wade deeper and even learned basic swimming on my own, but as soon as the water reaches my shoulder, I would panic.

Then one day, I decided that this fear of the water and this inability to swim properly should not continue any longer. I realized that I cannot maximize the full enjoyment of surfing or snorkeling if I cannot swim. Not to mention doing other fun stuff like mermaid swimming and underwater hockey.

So while on my career break, I decided to enroll in adult swimming lessons (instead of enrolling in violin classes). Through a quick Google search, I found out that the best swimming school in Manila that actually has an adult program is Bert Lozada Swim School.

The school holds lessons in many venues in Metro Manila and I was happy to learn that they have classes at Ace Water Spa. Ace is a fantastic place for relaxation. I have been there a couple of times and slept like a baby after every visit.

The schedules and tuition rates differ depending on location so it is best to call your preferred venue to confirm. Contact information can be found at www.bertlozadaswimschool.com

The fee for 10 lessons (one hour each) is P5,000 at Ace Water Spa, Pasig. You also need to pay P350 as annual registration fee.

After enrollment, I made sure I had the proper swim wear and gear.
1. Swim suit – no cotton wear and board shorts allowed. If you are not comfortable in one- or two- piece suits, you can wear a rash guard and swim shorts on top. Speedo has them. (But Roxy’s rash guards look way nicer ^_~). For males, if you do not like wearing trunks, Speedo has knee-length jammers.
2. Swim cap – I bought one from Speedo (P399) but I always use the free one provided by Ace and return it after my lesson.
3. Goggles – P1,100 from Speedo
4. Kick board – I got mine from Olympic Village for about P500. You don’t have to buy an expensive one. Even those with Spongebob designs are OK.

For daytime swimming at outdoor pools, I highly recommend getting a good sunblock and darker goggles with UV protection. I didn’t need them because I swim in an indoor pool.

So day 1 of swim class. There were only 3 of us in the group. I was with my friend Peewee and another girl whose name I cannot remember. Our teacher is Sir Yacoub.

We started with the most basic: floating. Floating on the back, face down and mushroom. Then on to flutter kicks. For years, I’ve been kicking with a too-straight leg and always ended up tired with a bit of pain in the lower back. The trick to this kick to have a slight bend in the knee but not too much like you are running. The toes should be pointed. The kick should be driven from the hips and not from the lower leg or knee.

After Sir Yacoub was satisfied that we all got the flutter kick right, we moved to the torpedo or the streamline position. First is pushing off the wall in a streamline and just gliding and maintaining balance. Next exercise incorporated the flutter kick in the streamline position.

The last exercise of the day included paddling while kicking. This is after a few second streamline glide.

It was a fun day overall. The most important lesson for me is how to do the flutter kick properly. My teacher pointed out that my left foot turns inward as I kick so that is something I will need to be more conscious of for the next lessons.

What a great lesson. Fun! If only Papa could see me now. 🙂

PS: If this post helped you in some way, please consider clicking “Like” or “Share”. If you have questions, feel free to post them and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks! 🙂

20130929-134922.jpg

Facebook Comments

comments

34 Comments

  1. Hello!

    Would you know kung sa Intro na program ituturo na din yung basic skills, like floating? Matututo ka na din kaya lumangoy? Haha I do not know which class to take kasi. I want to take the Basic na, pero baka mamaya pang Intro pala dapat ako haha 😀

  2. I am already 37 years old & I want to learn how to swim because the truth is I don’t know how to swim, I will going to drown if I will go to the deepest side of the water. that’s all.

    thank you for the response.

    chris,

  3. Hi! I was searching for a swimming school and I encountered your blog. I am also super afraid of deep water. I couldn’t enjoy pools and beaches because of that. Now, that I am also in a career hiatus (lol), I’ve also started thinking of crossing out some things in my bucket list. I am 25 and I am actually hesitant to enroll and learn something new anymore since I feel like I am no longer that young. But reading your blog, I realized that it is still possible. We only live once, anyway. I am planning on enrolling in BLSS and hopefully, I would be able to overcome my fear. Thank you!

    1. Hi Ellie! So happy for you! You sound just like me last year, haha. I say go for it and just have fun. Remember, you are in safe hands when you study with BLSS. 🙂

    1. Yes, Kathy! So worth it. You will already learn loads from 10 sessions. I enjoyed the lessons so much that I registered for another 10 more. I hope you go for it!

      1. Thanks for the response :-). I’m just wondering what program did you enroll-in? Was it Intro Swim, or the Basic? Because just like you, I know some basic swimming, like floating and freestyle, but I’m not that comfortable in waters specially if its deep.

  4. Hi

    It seems the website bertlozadaswimschool.com is not working. But do they still offer adult swim lessons? How can I contact them.

    Thanks in advance!

    1. The Kids and Teens class will include 7-year-olds and above but the oldest kid I’ve seen was maybe 12. They will probably put you in the adult class.

  5. hi! i also enrolled at blss ace water spa. i’m currently at my 2nd session.. did they teach you how to thread in the water? i’m just wondering how they can teach me to be confident in deep water when the deepest in ace water spa is only 5ft (if i’m not mistaken).

    1. Hello May! Yes, it will be at the same time as the breast stroke because the kick is the same. I agree with you about the confidence thing since you will be learning in water less than 5 feet deep. What I did was to practice in a 9-foot deep waterfall and in the sea. If you are going to do this, make sure you have something to hold on to right away if you get tired (like the bamboo “katig” on the sides of a bangka). Good luck!

  6. Hello po! is it true na matagal daw pong matuto pag mga 30+ na ang age mo kse matigas na ang katawan? Im also interested to enroll in lozada swimming school but I worry kse baka at the end of the sessions e ako na lang ang di pa marunong…kakahiya… 🙁

    1. Hi Yeye! I was 33 and my friend was 34 when we started swimming lessons with Bert Lozada. After 10 sessions, I can confidently swim 3 strokes and my friend can already swim a few metres of butterfly. Age doesn’t matter — i-enjoy mo lang. Maalaga naman ang teachers sa Lozada kaya matuto ka talaga. Good luck!

  7. do you have to pay an entrance fee for every session? or is it already inclusive? and, are you allowed to use the other facilities after each session?

    Thanks

    1. Hello Marlon. You don’t need to pay any entrance fee. Unfortunately, students are not allowed to use the other facilities after a session. If you want to use them, you need to pay P550 separately.

  8. Sir,

    Im 22yrs old & i afraid to swim. You think they have a chance to learn easily??

  9. Hi, im interested on enrolling in Bert Lozada swimming school too. Ask ko lang po if after po ba naturo na kayo mag swim.. effective po ba ang lesson?

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Jemma! Yup, sobrang effective. First lesson pa lang, marunong na ako ng basic paddling and kicks. Then 2nd meeting, basic freestyle with breathing na. Siguro 3rd or 4th lesson, backstroke na. OK sila magturo. Konti lang ang students per class tapos 2 instructors kaya nakatutok talaga sayo 🙂 Good luck! Please let me know how it goes for you.

  10. hey I’m thinking about enrolling iBLSS, how’d it go? I’m also afraid of deep water like you, have you overcome that now? 🙂

    1. Hi Loraine! Yup, 100% cured 😀 I enrolled for another 10 lessons, mostly polishing of strokes and correcting form mistakes. Mag-e-enrol ulit ako until ma-master ko ang butterfly. Good luck to you and have fun! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Content Protected Using Blog Protector By: PcDrome.