For National Safety Month, age is just a number when learning to swim

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Swimming can be fun, adventurous, or exciting. It can also be terrifying.

And when people want to learn how to survive and thrive in the water, they might come to places like the British Swim School in Dunwoody, which has plenty of water for everyone.

“I think it’s one of the most important survival skills,” said swim student Ruhi Yadwad.

Yadwad started taking lessons nearly a year ago.

“Um, I’m maybe a four out of 10,” she said, describing her improvement.

Nearly a teen, Yadwad started swimming later than most kids.

“Swimming is like a life skill that you need to make sure you and others are safe, and it’s pretty fun, too,” she said.

She has no reservations about being the oldest kid in her swim class; however, she’s by no means the oldest at the school.

Some people taking private lessons are adults working to make up for lost time.

“Adults is actually one of our most popular programs,’ Aquatics Director Unique Rodriguez said.

During her five years of teaching swim lessons, Rodriguez has seen people of all ages get in the water. Their reasons are numerous.

“A lot of people’s answers are safety. They want to learn to swim but never did. And some people are, like, ‘I want to go on vacation,’” Rodriguez said.

But it’s about safety first and foremost. The Red Cross estimates that 54% of Americans don’t know basic swimming skills.

These are alarming numbers for something that doesn’t have to be.

“You kinda just have to take yourself back to being a child and just enjoying the water,” She explained.

Eventually, safety turns into fun, fun turns into enjoyment, and that begets something else.

“When you get to that god-level mode, everyone is going to be, like, ‘Wow, he’s so good at swimming,” she said.

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