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My Relationship with Water: a Journey of Triumph Over Aquaphobia

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Phobias — Review of the Aquaphobia – the Fear of Water

Review of The Aquaphobia - The Fear of Water

• Categories: Phobias

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Words: 434 |

Published: Apr 8, 2022

Words: 434 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
• Bourne, E. J. (2000). The anxiety and phobia workbook. New Harbinger Publications.
• Davey, G. C. L. (1997). A conditioning model of phobias. In P. M. Salkovskis (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy (pp. 91-113). Guilford Press.
• Fodor, I. E., & Lueger, R. J. (1985). Animal phobias: A review of theory and research. Psychological Reports, 57(2), 419-442.
• Marks, I. M. (1987). Fears, phobias, and rituals: Panic, anxiety, and their disorders. Oxford University Press.
• Öst, L. G. (1989). One-session treatment for specific phobias. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27(1), 1-7.
• Rachman, S. (2004). Fear of contamination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42(11), 1227-1255.
• Rachman, S., & Radomsky, A. S. (2006). Anxiety. In G. C. L. Davey (Ed.), The Oxford guide to anxiety disorders (pp. 43-68). Oxford University Press.
• Richards, A., & Suckling, J. (2008). Prediction of fear response to injections. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22(4), 737-745.
• Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Horowitz, J. D., Powers, M. B., & Telch, M. J. (2008). Psychological approaches in the treatment of specific phobias: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(6), 1021-1037.

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How to Overcome Fear of Water

Drowning prevention begins with learning to manage anxiety outside the pool..

Posted December 9, 2014 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• What Is Fear?
• Find a therapist to combat fear and anxiety

I’ve been traveling the country speaking about facing fear since Some Nerve came out last year. Nowhere has it been more of a life and death issue than the 11th annual World Aquatic Health Conference (WAHC) hosted by the non-profit National Swimming Pool Foundation®(NSPF®) , where I gave a keynote speech in October. This year, the WAHC focused on how to help people overcome their fear of water, to find solutions to the perpetual high rates of drowning in this country, and to begin a conversation amongst attendees on how to move forward.

Look at these statistics:

Two-thirds of Americans are afraid of deep, open bodies of water and 46% are afraid of the deep end of a pool. Thirty-seven percent of Americans are unable to swim, and almost 4000 people a year in the United States die of drowning.

Knowing how to swim (and equally important, knowing how to prevent panic in the water) are unquestionably life-saving skills, but if most swim lessons begin with “get in the pool,” those afraid of that first step will avoid lessons entirely.

Those who enter the pool afraid are often prone to panic at some point in their learning and never go back. Studies show that most children of non-swimmers don’t get enough practice to become competent swimmers themselves, perpetuating the cycle. How can we help the millions of fearful swimmers learn to enjoy the water safely?

We must address the fear first .

Anyone who enters the pool feeling overwhelmed by fear of embarrassment , failing, or being out of control, or who goes into flight/fight mode, will have a terribly hard time listening and learning over their pounding heart and racing thoughts.

In my remarks, I advocated for training swim instructors on how fear and anxiety affect students physically and emotionally, and how to de-escalate the fear and regain control. In profiling aquatic therapists like Jeff Krieger of Strategies for Overcoming Aquatic Phobias for the Water chapter of Some Nerve, I observed several differences in his approach vs the standard beginner class:

• Starting the lesson outside the pool and establishing trust . Very often anxious students are told, “there’s nothing to be afraid of.” But they are afraid. So anyone who says this immediately loses credibility. Taking the student’s concerns seriously before they enter the water makes them feel more safe and able to learn.
• Demystifying the water, explaining the properties of buoyancy, what happens when we’re in it and it goes into our ears or nose, washes overhead, etc.
• Practicing relaxation techniques like breathing and visualization outside the water first so they become easily accessible if needed in the pool.
• Going slow and accepting that it may be an emotional process, but keeping the goal clear: competence in the deep end. While many believe the fear of water is simply too hard to overcome, that isn’t true. In the documentary film Taking the Plunge (produced by Shawnelle King of Falcon Rattler Media) screened at WAHC, we see two of Jeff’s adult students go from tears in the shallow end to swimming laps with pride and joy within 10 classes.

Even more than learning strokes, learning to cope with fear and maintaining ease in the water is what prevents drowning. I can swim but ever since I had a terrifying experience getting swept down a river as a teen , I’ve struggled with anxiety in moving water. I once needed the lifeguard to pull me up in the three feet of water at the bottom of a waterslide, simply because I was flustered and forgot how to stand up. Even competitive swimmers panic — that’s why there are swim angels to help triathletes in the open water. When you get scared, you forget what you know. Teaching people what to do when they feel fear is about the most empowering antidote.

In the U.S. today, there are only a handful of swim instructors who specialize in teaching fearful students (presenting at the WAHC were Jeff Krieger of Strategies for Overcoming Aquatic Phobias (S.O.A.P.) , Melon Dash of Miracle Swim , and Kimberlee Shults of Face in Water ). These pioneers have developed effective strategies that have helped many, many students but there is still so much need out there.

If you or someone you love is afraid of the water, connect with them, or advocate for your local pool to get their staff trained by them . I would love to see basic “Getting Comfortable in the Water” classes as ubiquitous as Toastmasters International which started with 1 club to help people overcome the fear of public speaking and has grown to over 13,000 chapters in 116 countries. Why not?

With the energy, imagination , and commitment of aquatics professionals like the nearly 400 swim program directors, pool operators, health officials, parks & recreation representatives who attended WAHC, everything is possible. Many were eager to brainstorm ideas at the conference — we talked about adding parent classes alongside kids classes, or offering a free private lesson for parents of kids enrolled. We talked about enlisting mental health professionals to get certified to teach or consult with staff. We talked about starting every beginner class outside the pool, with more direct instruction on managing anxiety. We talked about Spanish language classes in underserved communities. Talk that I am confident will lead to action.

Perhaps most moving for me were the swim instructors who told me that they never understood the adult students who couldn’t do basic things like put their face in the water and blow bubbles before. More than one had tears in their eyes as they said things like, “I had students quit after one lesson and I never knew why. I wish I could go back and do it over again,” and “Now, I get it. This is going to help me understand my students a whole lot better.”

What can you do to help? Can you raise awareness of the issue in your community? Can you fundraise to get pool staff trained to teach fearful swimmers? Or build partnerships between health and wellness providers to educate the public about anxiety and drowning prevention? A good place to donate is the NSPF Step Into Swim Campaign , a 10-year initiative to create 1 million new swimmers. So far they have raised $103,427 with matching funds.

Let’s start viewing fear of water as something that can be overcome, and swimming as a human right. All of us can play a part in saving and improving lives by sharing our ideas and then taking the plunge.

Patty Chang Anker is the author of Some Nerve . She also blogs at Facing Forty Upside Down.

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Learning to Swim Is Hard. Especially When You're 31 and Terrified of Water.

My fear of water has held me back my whole life. So I dived into the science of how and why all of us are scared of something—and then I took the plunge.

That alone isn’t what troubles me, though. It’s that my lack of skill puts me in a petrified state that keeps me from living life to the fullest. If I’m forced to set foot on a beach (and let’s be real: I try to avoid it), I won’t even go into the water up to my ankles. If I’m on a boat, even if it’s the bougiest of yachts, you can find me wearing a life vest with my hand clenching a railing. I’ll only consider standing in a pool if it’s less than four feet deep. I never, ever take baths.

I’m not quite sure what caused my extreme aquaphobia. I have no recollection of being held underwater during a prank, having to dodge the jaws of a great white, or getting warnings from protective parents that left a permanent scorch mark on my brain. There is, at least, a little comfort in knowing that everyone’s scared of something. Whether it’s a fear of spiders or a fear of setting off a social-media disaster, each phobia has the same disruptive effects on our brains and lives. The fear response doesn’t discriminate; it works in the same way no matter what scares you shitless. What I do know is that I was sick of living this way. So I did something rash.

I signed up for eight weeks of one-on-one swim lessons with Life Time swim coach Kevin Dominguez. Trial by water. Whatever you want to call it, I was going to conquer my fear by plunging into its depths and learning how my fear—and all our fears—work.

My first lesson got off to a rocky start. I was supposed to learn to float, but I couldn’t relax even with the instructor holding me up. My heart rate climbed. I started overthinking, then panicking, and afterward I felt hopeless.

So I called licensed clinical psychologist Zach Sikora, Psy.D. , who practices with the Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group in Illinois, to help me understand why I’ve been so scared of swimming and why it’s held me back for so long. Sikora says that my intense fear of dipping even a toe in the water is really just my brain doing its job. My amygdala, the brain region that registers fear, “is responsible for detecting threat in order to keep you safe,” he says. It’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to—it wants to keep me alive, so it’s sending warnings about water, which is the right response, since, after all, I don’t know how to swim.

Meanwhile, my frontal lobe—the part that takes care of reasoning—is trying to rationalize these thoughts and reduce the fear. That creates tension as one area is putting me on high alert and the other is trying to prevent me from succumbing to said fear.

Knowing that the fear and the stress around it are just biology, not a character flaw, helped me feel less apprehensive about the next lesson. But then I got in the water, tried to tilt my head to the side to breathe, and realized that my fear of dying via water had gone on the back burner. Now I was fully engaged in the fear of being a washout—I didn’t want to waste my time, let alone my instructor’s. And I had a sudden fear of dependency when I determined I could only move around in the pool while holding foam noodles. The whole swimming endeavor felt like less of a physical challenge and more of an attempt to correct a personality defect. “It is common for anxiety to breed more anxiety. Your fear may be specific to one situation, but then you find it in other areas,” Sikora tells me, calling it a “generalization of fear.”

That’s when I understood I might need even more support and wondered if I should call on my trusty therapist to help me become a fearless swim warrior. Instead, I called UCLA fear researcher Michael Fanselow, Ph.D. , who explains that “it would be very difficult, if not impossible,” to just think my way out of this. To navigate this situation really well, I’d probably require a blend of exposure therapy via the swim lessons I was already doing and cognitive behavioral therapy, in which I’d practice reframing problematic thoughts.

This would help me establish pathways in the brain created by the thought that the water isn’t so bad. The process I was undergoing isn’t about getting rid of the fear response—that’s still important. It’s about helping my brain learn to select which association—the water is bad, the water isn’t bad—to act on when.

In the pool, I worked on gaining confidence and ability—“generating some evidence that you’re not going to drown,” as Julie Johnston, Ph.D. , an expert in swimming and sport psychology at Nottingham Trent University, puts it. Both in and out, I worked on questioning established thinking patterns (“There’s no way I can swim”) and figuring out how to think in a more productive way about the water I was in (“breathe, kick, relax”).

In the third session, for instance, I managed to swim a lap using the tips of Kevin’s fingers as a guide. I wasn’t sure if his compliments were only intended to give me confidence or if I was actually doing as well as others do by this point. But I reframed that and realized that getting past this fear meant taking each victory as it came.

Initially, I struggled to separate the concepts of having a less-than-exceptional swim lesson and failing as a person. Eventually, I found an alternative and accepted that I wasn’t going to be the next Michael Phelps and that I might never do a flip turn. I gave up that requirement to be successful and let go, dictating what the outcome of these lessons would be on my own terms. If I left each lesson with a pulse, I was happy.

The weeks flew by—some easier than others. I doubt a triathlon or an open water swim is in my near future. But I know that even if I never learn to love swimming, I don’t have to keep fearing the water. Nor do I have to keep worrying about letting my instructor—or myself—down. By understanding how fear works, I made every one of those 19-yard laps count (even the few that I walked). I came away from every session with a pulse and a little more wisdom.

I’ll take that as a win.

Your 3-Step Plan for Managing Fear

Normalize it.

Recognize that fear is just your brain doing its job of protecting you. It’s good to be afraid of things that can hurt you. Knowing this keeps you from fighting what you’re feeling and getting even more tense, agitated, and incapable of dealing with the problem.

Flex Your Expectations

It’s important not to set a timeline for getting through your fear. When I accepted that I wasn’t going to be crush ing 3,000 yards after eight weeks and chose a realistic goal for each session, I gained control over the process.

Call in Backup

Exposure therapy—getting in the pool—was vital for getting through my fear. But so was learning to identify and challenge the dysfunctional thinking (“the water is going to kill me”) that was perpetuating my anxiety.

This story appears in the July/August 2023 issue of Men's Health .

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How to Overcome Aquaphobia

By Malia Wollan

• June 10, 2016

“Fear is a wound to your heart,” says M. Ellen Dash, who founded a national swim school for adults afraid of the water. Don’t bother with the mechanics of freestyle or backstroke until you’ve dealt with the panic. Start slow. “No scrambling, no hurry, no tension, no worry,” Dash says. Walk around in the shallow end of a pool. Keep your mind on the present; notice the sensation of liquid against skin. Allow yourself to feel in control. “Don’t manage your fear,” Dash says. “Heal it.”

Some 19.2 million American adults suffer from phobias (twice as many women as men). Fear of water is among the more common. If you can, talk about your anxiety. In the first hours of class, Dash’s students explain the root of their water aversion. For some, it stems from a traumatic experience; for others, it’s a learned trait. Of the 5,000 adults who have been through Dash’s program, some 90 percent have at least one parent who was afraid of water. Unlearn the terror before you pass it along.

You won’t want to initially, but try putting your face underwater. Stand in the pool, holding the edge with one hand and pinching your nose with your other. Dip your face in quickly. Repeat until you’re no longer clenching your jaw, until you can let go of your nostrils and allow them to fill with water. Celebrate: You’ve just passed a major milestone.

It might take days or even years, but eventually you will need to go into the deep end, where your feet don’t touch the bottom. The goal — what Dash considers to be the mastery of aquaphobia — is to float peacefully in deep water for at least five minutes, 10 feet from a wall or support. First, sit at the edge, dangling your legs over. Then slide in, holding on to the pool’s lip. Trust this medium of hydrogen-­and-­oxygen-­based molecules to buoy you up. You may be an air-­breathing land animal, yet your body is a watery one. A newborn baby is about 68 percent water. People dehydrate as they age and fatten, but even an adult woman who is 30 percent fat will be more than 50 percent water. Be comforted by that — and push off from the edge. “See,” Dash says, “you are not sinking!”

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Aquaphobia, or the fear of water, is a common phobia that can severely limit an individual’s ability to enjoy aquatic activities and even impact their daily life. Whether it stems from a traumatic experience, lack of exposure to water, or an innate fear, overcoming aquaphobia is crucial to ensuring safety and comfort in and around water. In this article, we will discuss tips and strategies to help you conquer your fear of water and embrace the countless benefits of aquatic activities with confidence.

Acknowledge and Understand Your Fear

The first step in overcoming aquaphobia is acknowledging your fear and understanding its root causes. Reflect on your past experiences with water and identify any specific triggers or situations that may exacerbate your anxiety. By gaining insight into the origins of your fear, you can begin to develop a targeted plan for addressing and overcoming your aquaphobia.

Gradual Exposure

One of the most effective strategies for conquering aquaphobia is through gradual exposure to water. Start by simply being near water, such as visiting a local pool or beach, without the expectation of entering the water. As you become more comfortable in these settings, gradually increase your level of interaction with water, such as dipping your toes in, wading into shallow areas, or splashing water on your face. This slow and controlled approach can help desensitize you to your fears and build confidence in your ability to cope with water-related anxiety.

Breathing and Relaxation Techniques

Breathing and relaxation techniques can be powerful tools in managing the anxiety and stress associated with aquaphobia. Practice deep, slow breaths and focus on releasing tension from your muscles while near or in the water. You may also find visualization exercises helpful, such as imagining yourself confidently and calmly enjoying aquatic activities.

Seek Professional Help

If your fear of water is particularly intense or debilitating, it may be beneficial to seek professional help from a therapist or counselor who specializes in treating phobias. A mental health professional can provide guidance, support, and tailored treatment plans to help you overcome your aquaphobia, often incorporating techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or exposure therapy.

Enroll in Swimming Lessons or Aquatic Therapy

Swimming lessons or aquatic therapy can provide a structured and supportive environment for facing and overcoming your fear of water. Qualified instructors or therapists can guide you through the process, teach you essential water safety skills, and offer encouragement and reassurance. As you gain proficiency in swimming and water safety, your confidence will grow, and your fear of water may gradually diminish.

Involve a Trusted Support System

Overcoming aquaphobia can be challenging, but having a trusted support system can make the process more manageable. Share your fears and goals with close friends or family members who can provide encouragement, understanding, and assistance during your journey to conquer aquaphobia.

Overcoming aquaphobia may seem like a daunting task, but with perseverance, patience, and the right strategies, it is possible to conquer your fear of water. By acknowledging your fear, gradually exposing yourself to water, practicing breathing and relaxation techniques, seeking professional help, enrolling in swimming lessons, and involving a trusted support system, you can take the necessary steps to embrace aquatic activities with confidence and enjoyment. Remember that progress may be slow, but with determination and persistence, you can overcome aquaphobia and open up a world of exciting and enriching aquatic experiences.

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The post Overcoming Aquaphobia: Tips and Strategies for Conquering Your Fear of Water appeared first on Swim Jim .

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Phobia advice coming from a scaredy-cat. Read at your leisure!

Aquaphobia: the fear of water.

Aquaphobia, which is sometimes referred to as hydrophobia, is an intense fear of water. This can range from the deep water of our oceans to raging waves or could include swimming pools or bathtubs. Additionally, the phobia can impact people in different ways. Some victims cannot even see a large body of water, whereas others can get by without being affected by the phobia if they refrain from entering the water. The amount of water is generally not what triggers the phobia, but rather the recognition of the water’s abilities and power to instill danger.

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Most frequently, aquaphobia comes from a previous traumatic experience with or in water. This can be attributed to someone drowning, almost drowning or falling frightfully off of a boat or dock. For others, the phobia comes more from the unknown objects and organisms that can be found in the water. Some examples of negative water-related events such as a jellyfish sting or a shark attack can instill fears in a person, whether they experienced it themselves or have heard of or seen something similar occur. Also, aquaphobia is very likely to be passed on from one’s parents. It is one of the most common fears to take on from a parent or guardian. In some cases, aquaphobia can arise in individuals later on in life if they have never lived in a location with large bodies of water, and they suddenly encounter it. Essentially, the fear of water is traced back to the possibility of danger and even fatality that can result from the substance and the elements that it can contain, regardless of its magnitude.

Some of the symptoms of aquaphobia include shaking, freezing in place, hyperventilation, fainting, and nausea, though these can vary depending on the person. A common manifestation of the fear is in the form of anticipatory anxiety in the weeks or days leading up to an event that involves water. As water is very much a part of life, whether that be in need-based activities or social settings, a phobia like this can be detrimental to a person’s ability to carry on with day-to-day activities. Though someone can obviously avoid going swimming in most cases, if the fear extends to sprays and splashes, the effects can be extremely limiting. In some of the rarest cases, aquaphobia can invade someone’s ability to shower and bathe, which can have a detrimental impact on self-esteem. This can be due to the lack of cleanliness and hygiene that can result from this sort of manifestation of the fear, which is much more rare than the usual cases. 

There are many ways to treat aquaphobia for patients that are interested. Perhaps the most proactive way to combat the fear is to take swimming lessons are talk to a lifeguard about the best techniques for avoiding danger in any body of water. If you are comfortable swimming and treading water, the fear of drowning that is most commonly associated with aquaphobia is decreased to a certain extent. However, if measures need to be taken in addition to these proactive decisions, some patients utilize cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy, in which a therapist will help you through water involved situations and environments to learn relaxing techniques and thought exercises to work through the fear. For patients that get very tense and tight as a result of the fear, yoga and meditation are often recommended to assuage some of the anxiety and rigidity, both physically and emotionally, that can result from the phobia. 

Water is one of the strongest compounds on our earth, and whether you are aquaphobic or not, it is important to recognize the possible negative consequences that can result from the power that comes from this force of nature. Never swim alone!

6 thoughts on “ Aquaphobia: The Fear of Water ”

Interesting post! I completely understand this fear. My sixth-grade English teacher lost his father in an ocean accident. Ever since my teacher recounted this heart-wrenching story to us, I have never approached the ocean in the same way. It truly is a beast to be feared. I’m glad to know that there are some ways to combat this phobia.

I guess most phobias aren’t actually fears of the things themselves, but actually a fear of the dangers that come with them. I’ve heard that the same concept applies to people with a fear of heights that they’re not afraid of being that high, but they’re afraid of falling and hitting the ground.

That is so scary how a traumatic experience with water could have so many long-lasting impacts, and the idea that someone could be afraid of even small bodies of water or bathing seems so debilitating, since it’s basically impossible to avoid all water. It also makes sense that anticipatory anxiety could play a big part in people’s fear, since events like planning a trip to the beach would need so much mental preparation for someone with aquaphobia to handle.

This is a phobia that hit close to home. I never knew it was actual thing, but it is crazy to believe that it is. My brother when I was wonder “HATED!” our bath water and stuff. My mother would struggle to get him in the shower, he could cry so much. Crying and screaming almost as if someone was trying to kill him. Which is when we noticed he had the phobia.

Water is interesting. Though it is needed for us to live, it is simultaneously very dangerous to us! Though I’m fine with plumbing water and fresh water, the ocean scares me. Not so much the water, but the things in the water. A bit different, but I can see where this comes from. Great post!

I am hoping my new puppy is okay with storms!

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Sink or Swim? Overcoming the Fear of Water with Expert Advice

“Water can be a source of immense fun and relaxation, but for many people, it can also be a source of fear and anxiety. Fear of water is a common phobia affecting individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. It can stem from a variety of reasons, such as a traumatic experience, a lack of exposure to water during childhood, or simply feeling uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment. 

The fear of water can be a significant barrier to enjoying activities such as swimming, boating, or even bathing. However, with the right approach, overcoming this fear and developing a sense of comfort and confidence in the water is possible. In this article, we will explore various strategies and techniques to help individuals overcome their fear of water and take the first steps toward enjoying all aquatic activities.”

Confront the fear.

If you’re one of the many people who experience a fear of water, know that you’re not alone. While it’s a common fear, it doesn’t have to hold you back from enjoying the many benefits of water activities, like swimming, boating, or even just wading in the shallow end of a pool. The first step to conquering your fear is to confront it head-on. This means acknowledging your fear and understanding why you’re scared.

By confronting your fears, you’re taking an important step towards lessening their impact on your life. Overcoming your fear of water can be a gradual process, so it’s important to take small steps and celebrate your progress along the way. Remember, it’s never too late to learn new skills and challenge yourself, even if it means facing your fears.

Don’t let your fear of water hold you back from the many joys and benefits of water activities. With effort, perseverance, and the right resources, you can overcome your fear and enjoy all that the water has to offer.

Ask yourself why you’re scared of water.

If you’re afraid of water, it’s important to take the time to understand why. The reason may be obvious: you had a bad experience at an early age. You or someone close to you had an accident in the water, or maybe they even drowned. But there are other reasons why people are scared of water–and these can be harder to overcome because they’re less tangible than physical injuries.

For example, some people develop phobias because they grew up around people who were afraid of swimming pools or lakes (or even showers). If this sounds like your situation, then overcoming your fear will involve helping yourself by changing how other members of your family see their own fears around swimming pools and lakes.

Relax by the pool and dip your feet in.

Overcoming your fear of water can be a challenging task, but there are many ways to make it a more manageable and enjoyable experience. Dipping your feet into the water slowly can also be a helpful step in overcoming your fear of water. Starting small, by just getting used to the sensation of water on your feet, can help you build confidence and become more comfortable with the water. Once you feel ready, you can gradually move on to other water-related activities, such as wading, swimming, or water sports.

Combat stress with meditation and visualization techniques for ultimate relaxation.

Meditation is a form of relaxation that can help you to relax and focus your mind. It can also help you to feel more relaxed, reduce stress, feel better about yourself, and become more positive.

When it comes to overcoming a fear of water, meditation is the perfect way to combat the negative feelings associated with swimming pools or lakes – especially if they are related to past experiences in these environments. If nothing else works for you, try practicing some simple breathing exercises while sitting quietly on the edge of a pool–this will calm down any racing thoughts which could be making matters worse!

Revitalize yourself in seconds: Splash water, and summon positivity!

Indulge in a moment of reflection and ponder on the pure joy and satisfaction you derive from immersing yourself in water. What emotions does it evoke? How does it impact you? The simple act of being around water can work wonders in relieving stress and promoting relaxation. When we are stressed, our bodies tend to react by tensing up or shutting down. However, spending time in nature and by the water can help us restore our natural balance, bringing a sense of harmony to our surroundings. Imagine the pleasure of dipping your feet into the cool, refreshing water, surrounded by lush greenery, and feeling the stress melt away. Moreover, water has the ability to clear our minds, allowing us to recharge our batteries and return to our daily responsibilities with renewed vigor. So take a break and go for a swim, letting the gentle waves and peaceful atmosphere wash over you. It’s like meditation, but better, without any unwelcome distractions to disrupt your inner peace.

Dive in! Ease into the water in the shallow end

The best way to get over a fear of water is by diving in. But don’t dive too deep! Instead, ease into the water in the shallow end of the pool or at the beach.

• Don’t jump in – walk slowly into the water and let yourself get used to it before taking another step.
• Don’t try to swim yet – just stand there and breathe for now; as long as you’re not panicking and hyperventilating, there’s no need to rush things along!
• Don’t panic – take deep breaths while looking around at all that beautiful scenery surrounding us here on earth (or wherever else we may be). The more relaxed we can feel ourselves getting right now when faced with this challenge ahead of us – whether it be learning how t swim or overcoming any other fears we might have about life itself – the chances are good everything will work out just fine later down the road after overcoming those initial challenges today…

Try swimming with a partner or friend who is confident in the water.

If you have a fear of water and want to overcome it, try swimming with a partner or friend who is confident in the water. You can learn from each other and support each other while sharing your experiences.

• You can share your fears with your partner or friend as they will understand where you are coming from because they’ve been there before as well!
• Helping one another will give both of you an opportunity to feel good about yourself which will ultimately help build confidence in your abilities when dealing with this problem area in life.
• Try calm waters, such as lakes and ponds, before jumping into rushing rivers and oceans with strong currents.
• Find a quiet spot where you can be alone and relax.
• Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it briefly, then let it out through your mouth slowly while counting to five or 10 (or whatever number helps you breathe deeply). Repeat this process several times until you feel more relaxed.
• Focus on your breathing as well as the movement of water around you if possible – focus on these things rather than any fears or worries that may come up during visualization exercises like this one!

Ready to cool off? Dip your head underwater and enjoy the refreshing sensation.

If you’re ready to jump in and cool off, here are some tips.

• First of all, don’t be afraid to get your hair wet. Your hair can withstand a lot of water–and if it’s long enough (past shoulder length), you can tie it back or put on a swim cap so that it doesn’t get in the way while swimming.
• Second of all, don’t be afraid to get your face wet! You might think this sounds silly but many people have been taught from an early age not to let water touch their faces while they’re swimming because they’ll drown if they do so. In reality, though there may be some exceptions depending on how fast the current is moving around us when we’re underwater; however most swimmers will tell you that there’s no need for concern as long as we don’t stay under too long or forget about breathing air through our nostrils instead using just our mouths (which would cause panic).

Take a deep breath and blow: Create a magical underwater world with bubbles

If you’re scared of water, it’s important to be in a safe place. You should never blow bubbles while swimming or diving in deep waters. If you are going to practice blowing bubbles in shallow water, make sure that there aren’t any rocks or dangerous objects under the surface of your pool.

And don’t blow too hard! Your lungs will burst if they are overfilled with air and water–and then what will happen? You’ll die! That sucks! Don’t let this happen: keep it cool and calm when blowing those magical underwater worlds with bubbles.

Ready, set, kick! Hold on to the side and perfect your technique.

You’re ready to get in the water. Before you jump in, it’s important that you have a good grip on the side of the pool. It’s best if you hold on with both hands, but if one hand is injured or otherwise unusable, then use that one as well!

Once you’ve got a firm grasp on things (and maybe even made eye contact with some friendly fish), try kicking your feet in different directions: up and down, side-to-side, and back and forth–you never know what might happen!

Practice kicking them out of the water too! This will help build strength in those muscles so when it comes time for real swimming encounters later on down the road there won’t be any problems like losing control over how fast things go since there isn’t much resistance from being surrounded by liquid molecules instead of air molecules which means nothing holding back movement whatsoever except for gravity itself but don’t worry about that now just focus on getting better at moving forward without falling backward first.”

Ready to glide? Take the plunge and enjoy the ride!

In the end, you should know that you can do anything you want to do. You just need to be willing to take some risks and chances on yourself. If something fails, don’t give up! Instead of focusing on what went wrong or how much time or money was wasted in the process of trying something new (which will happen), focus on what went well and learn from it so that next time around there’s less room for error or failure.

If at first, you don’t succeed… try again! And again! And again until eventually–with practice and patience–you will succeed at whatever it is that scares us most: water skiing/swimming/diving/etcetera-et-cetera ad nauseam ad infinitum ad nauseam!

Final words:

Overcoming the fear of water may seem daunting, but with patience, perseverance, and the right strategies, it is possible to develop a sense of comfort and confidence in the water. It is essential to start small and work gradually towards larger goals, taking the time to become comfortable at each stage of the process. Whether it’s working with a therapist, taking swimming lessons , or simply practicing in a safe and controlled environment, there are various techniques and resources available to help individuals overcome their fear of water. With consistent effort and a positive mindset, anyone can learn to confront their fear, and experience the joy and freedom that comes with enjoying water activities.

Guest article.

The above may not coincide with the methodology and opinion of the SwimRight Academy Team.

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Facing Her Worst Fear: An ELLE Writer Learns to Swim at 28

We are here to learn how to swim. By we , I am referring to the two dozen or so men and women between the ages of 20 and 60 who are huddled at the edge of the Y pool on East 14th Street in New York City. Though we haven't yet dipped a toe in, we're all wet because a large sign in the locker room ordered us to shower before entering the pool area. Many of us are wearing impractical bathing suits that have never seen water. Because we are also required to wear swim caps, we look very strange—the neat contours of our bodies and protruding goggles give us the appearance of wary extraterrestrials visiting an unknown planet. Our nearly naked state reveals that we have a surprising amount of body hair, nice breasts, dimpled thighs, tattoos, moles that maybe should be checked out, mystery scars, and at least 15 different shades of skin tone, due to our various nationalities. We are cold, and many of us are scared. We have paid $275 for 12 weeks of lessons, and some of us, I know, are already regretting the purchase the way one regrets ordering a high-tech vegetable chopper from a late-night infomercial. To ease our anxiety, we ask questions. What's your name? Do you really not know how to swim, or do you kind of know? So, like, you can't even float, right?

Two athletic-looking men and one woman stand before us. They welcome us to "adult beginner swim," and I laugh at the class's title—suggesting as it does that we are beginners not only at swimming, but also at adulthood. The female instructor glares at me and sternly informs us that if we miss a class, there will be absolutely "no makeups!"

Today we will be separated into smaller groups based on ability. As a quick test, Tony, an instructor wearing a full-body wet suit, stands in the middle of the pool and asks us to swim to him one at a time in any way we know how. Very quickly it becomes clear that some of us have lied; some of us can in fact kind of swim and float. I am one of the liars. I can usually doggy-paddle for about seven seconds before my nerves take over and I sink. I walk down the steps into the pool, swim halfway to Tony, and stop. "What happened?" he asks. "I'm afraid to go deeper," I say. The water, which is a pale blue and reeks of chlorine, is up to my waist. Tony assigns me to the lowest level.

I'm afraid to go deeper . Once, sometimes twice a year I mumble this as I enter oceans and friends' pools. My mother never learned to swim, and so I never did either. The last time someone tried to teach me, I was 11 and my uncle had decided that enough was enough. On an overcast Sunday at Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, I was playing with my cousins near the shore when he picked me up and tossed me into the ocean. By the time I inhaled to scream, I was underwater.

The idea, I think, was that nature would take over—that I'd kick, battle the water, and eventually rise to the surface. Instead I lay down on the bottom of the ocean and allowed the water to enter my lungs. That I seemed to possess no survival instinct, as it's called—no innate part of me that knew what to do in the face of danger—became apparent again the next year when I encountered a snake in the woods. As the other kids ran screaming, I just stood there frozen, tears streaming down my face. I have no idea what personality traits bring a child to so passively greet ominous circumstances, but these episodes do reveal a fatalistic predisposition that has followed me into my "adult beginner" life. As I sank to the bottom of the ocean, it simply did not occur to me that there was anything I could do about it.

I couldn't have been in the water 
longer than seconds, but in my memory the moment stretches like a film reel, each frame full of distinct sights and sensations. I remember the pillowy sand beneath my thighs, the light filtering through the deep green water above me, the human shadow eclipsing the light, and my uncle's arms reaching in and yanking me out. I remember coughing and coughing, and then the reel cuts off and there are no more images, only the feelings of inadequacy and shame for having disappointed, and the certainty that I never wanted to see that particular movie again.

"Just blow out slowly," Tony is telling me. There are seven of us in Tony's group, and we are learning to blow bubbles. While my classmates keep their heads submerged for five, even 10 seconds, I lower only my face—the tip of my nylon-capped head sticking out—push all of my air out in one forceful exhale, and bop up immediately. A couple of times I try holding my nose on the way down, but Tony says it's not allowed. He tells me to just try holding my breath, but again I dip, blow, bop up like a buoy. Tony looks confused.

We move on to an exercise that requires us to push off the side of the pool and glide with our faces down in the water. The glide itself is not bad, but I keep raising my head as soon as I start, and Tony's patience is fading. "Just hold your breath!" he instructs. I want to please Tony, so the next time I try to remain under and somehow manage to inhale water. "Why can't you just hold it?" Tony asks as I come up coughing. He moves on to his more promising pupils, but it is too late, I can't stop—I am crying in the pool. Then I realize something that will bring me great comfort over the next three months: No one can tell when you're crying in the water.

The first time I saw the ocean, I was 10 years old, and it was wintertime, and my mother and I had walked four blocks from our high-rise in Coney Island, Brooklyn, to the shore in our heavy coats and stood staring at the Atlantic as if it were a gorgeous mirage. The previous night we'd emigrated from Russia. Our first year in Brooklyn, I attended a day camp at Brighton Beach, where, observing a sprightly girl named Katya in the water, I began teaching myself the doggy paddle, but my visit to Manhattan Beach later that summer put an end to my aquatic interests.

It would be unfair, however, to suggest that my ambivalence about water began on that day. Even as a young child I'd had a consuming fascination with seas and oceans, which, growing up in Moscow, seemed about as faraway and exotic to me as the moon. My favorite book was about a young girl who gets swept away by a storm and lands on an island made entirely of candy. My favorite TV show was The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau , dubbed in Russian. By the time I'd read Gulliver's Travels , I was convinced that large bodies of water were portals to fantastical, possibly frightening worlds—a theory that proved true after we crossed the Atlantic by plane and landed in Coney Island.

But children's books are made of the very real terrors suffered by adults, and after I'd actually met the ocean, I began to see it for what it is: a sprawling, menacing body with its own heartbeats, temperamental whims, and immeasurable strength. By high school, I'd refused to read Moby-Dick and still haven't. Even now, I memorize drowning data in New York the way others note crime statistics. Though I have lived here for more than a decade, I've never taken a ferry, because I know that the waters surrounding Manhattan have currents powerful enough to carry even competent swimmers out to sea, and that in 1904, for instance, the General Slocum , a steamship traveling along the East River, caught fire and sank, killing an estimated 1,021 people—the deadliest day in New York City's history until September 11, 2001.

When I get home, I call my mother. She has no memory of that day at Manhattan Beach, but after I describe it to her—we've somehow never talked about it—she tells me that something similar happened to her. When she was five, she slipped from my grandmother's grasp as they were crossing a shallow lake and fell in. Her reel is eerily similar to mine: the soft sand, the filtering light, the human shadow coming to rescue her. She hasn't entered a body of water since.

Fear of water can be a hereditary condition, suffered by a surprising number of people. A quick Google search reveals that Eva Mendes and Snoop Dogg can't swim, and neither can former Baywatch babe Carmen Electra. According to the USA Swimming Foundation, if a parent doesn't know how to swim, there is only a 13 percent chance that his or her child will learn. Up to half of Americans can't swim, and an average of 10 people drown in the country every day.

The week my classes begin, I happen to be reading Renata Adler's 1976 novel Speedboat , in which she writes, "Every child, naturally, who was not a sissy, swam. In lakes, and seas, and heavily chlorinated pools, they earned their certificates…. People who missed their proper year often remained afraid of swimming, driving, hunting or whatever, all their lives."

That passage isn't about swimming exactly. It's about something far more important—it's about how we come to think of ourselves. To know the self as a "sissy" is to avoid skis, bicycles, mountains, and tennis courts because of the strong suspicion that you will not, necessarily, know to raise a racket to block the ball from hitting your face. If we don't learn to swim, we lose a certain faith in our ability to meet physical challenges, but the impact may be greater yet, if sneakingly pernicious. Realizing that not only does your body fail to stay afloat but that it doesn't even bother to kick when faced with its own demise begins to feel like a repulsive evolutionary defect that must be concealed at all costs—an Achilles heel so fundamental that it threatens all our other accomplishments. (Is there anything more humiliating than lacking a basic instinct for self-preservation?) That I want to learn to swim now, at the age of 28, has less to do with my being afraid of drowning than it does with my growing increasingly tired with myself for being afraid of "whatever."

When I return to the Y, Tony delivers strange news. I, along with three others from the lowest beginner group, have been reassigned to an even lower beginner group. Weeks later, after I get to know my new classmates, I can only assume that the good people at the Y created a special level for us—let's call it "traumatized adult beginner swim"—and called in special forces.

My classmates are all from India. Upal and Ujjal are fraternal twins in their late twenties who live together in Stuyvesant Town. The brothers took a swim class when they were kids but didn't like their teacher. "So we never went back," Upal told me. Ujjal has a rather large tattoo of two dolphins on his back, and I'm not sure he's aware of the irony. Our fourth is Anustee, a doe-eyed young woman who wears a bathing suit with a skirt attached. Whenever Anustee enters the water, her eyebrows travel upward on her forehead in an expression that communicates pure terror. Several times I wanted to ask her why she never learned to swim, but she always seemed too distressed to engage in small talk.

Since none of us had learned to blow bubbles, we start there. "Show me what you do," says Will, our new teacher. I show him and brace for criticism. Instead, Will comes up close to me and begins speaking in a calm, measured tone. "It's okay," he says. "This is totally normal. You're just a little nervous in the water. I want you to try something for me: Just hum." Hum? "Yes, hum. Start humming before you go under and that will pace your breathing."

My hum is more like a yogi's "om" as I lower my head into the pool. I focus on humming slowly but steadily so that no water enters my nose— Oooooommm —and as I realize that I've now been under for several seconds, I become irrationally angry at Tony for not having mentioned this neat trick last week. As I come up, Will is smiling. "That's it," he says. "See? Easy." By the end of the class, I not only learn to glide but I'm the only one who masters floating, which Will asks me to demonstrate for the rest of the class.

A few important words about Will: He is beautiful. Tall, tan, and muscular, he is like a Puerto Rican Michael Phelps. When Will isn't in the pool, he walks around shirtless in ragged sweatpants and beige Crocs. My favorite things about him include a small swirl of hair that forms a rat tail at the back of his neck, and the tongue ring that he tried to be discreet about until it fell out in week five and he had to go fishing for it in the pool. Whenever I panic in the water—which is often—he will grab my shoulders or my waist and say, "It's okay. You're okay. I got you. I'm right here," and I will at times forget that I have a boyfriend and look at Will with affection and gratitude so pure that I will simultaneously wish that he were my father and my husband. And if that sounds twisted, well, then you have not had the terrifying pleasure of being rescued by Will from the depths of the Y pool.

After the first lesson, Will teaches us to use kickboards and flippers, which is a little bit like learning to walk horizontally on water using a precarious floating device for balance and giant webbed feet for a manual propeller. (Flippers, I learn later, were the invention of Benjamin Franklin, an avid swimmer who helped popularize aquatics for the masses.)

It takes a few weeks to get the hang of these contraptions, but eventually we're zooming from one end of the pool to the other like toddlers on training wheels, and though I know I'm not swimming, exactly, I think I am starting to understand the concept.

When I move across the water, the parts of my life that exist on land seem unimportant. It's impossible for me to think about what e-mail I didn't send, or which friend I may have offended. My only priority is not to drown, and so I focus on my kicks, my breath, my muscles, which grow heavy whenever I get nervous. I start to fall in love with the sounds, which—except for the times when I hear Will's muffled voice say, "Relax your neck, Irina!"—are a pleasing symphony of low whirls and gargles as the water is pushed around and parted by my own body.

As the weeks go on, I begin to think of water as a different mode of existence and of swimming as a practice of essentially adapting my body to alien conditions. I start to see the world divided into people who can survive in dual realities, and more primitive creatures like myself who've been sequestered on the small patches of land that occupy our mostly blue planet. It occurs to me that, with the exception of space, this is the only place where humans get to defy gravity and escape the weight of their tired bodies.

Between classes, everyone who hears that I'm learning to swim is eager to tell me their own water stories, and I start to feel like the protagonist in John Cheever's "The Swimmer," swimming across the backyard pools of people's childhoods: the old wounds, the competitions, the beach towns where they grew up, that time the baby fell in, the brothers who took them surfing, the freedoms water afforded them and the insecurities they still feel from early failures in it.

In class, too, we all have our blocks. Upal and Ujjal, who are the only ones who can swim well without flippers, still cannot float. When they try, they sort of hover somewhere between the bottom of the pool and its surface as if frozen in the center of an ice cube. Anustee consistently comes undone in the deep end and thrashes around until Will rushes to her rescue, which always makes me a little jealous. For me, jumping into the water is the hardest. Every week as the others line up and hop in like a row of ducklings, I stand whimpering at the pool's edge and categorically refuse to do it no matter how long Will pleads with me. Even when we do this at the shallow end, I cannot seem to get myself to step forward, and I tell Will with full conviction that I will drown if I do. A few times I start to cry. When I finally do jump in—and this takes all of the 12 weeks—it's not until Will stands in the pool beneath me, offers me his hand, and promises that he will not let go.

On our final day, Will brings in a camera and films us so that we can see our progress. I climb out of the pool and stand next to him as he shows me the video in which I attempt to swim without the safety of flippers or a kickboard. I watch my scrawny body making movements I've never seen it make before, and the shocking part is that I'm moving through the pool—slowly and sloppily, but I'm doing it. "See, you have a great kick," Will says. Before I leave, he writes down his e-mail address and tells me to get in touch if I want more swimming lessons, if I have questions, or "whatever."

I graduate from the Y in June, and in mid-July I fly to Biarritz, where world champion surfer Lisa Andersen has generously agreed to give me a swimming lesson in open water. Andersen is an athlete for Roxy, the apparel brand with a heart-shape logo that is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2014. The beach in Biarritz is known for its waves, but when I arrive to observe the annual Roxy Pro competition, all the female surfers seem depressed. "The ocean's as still as a lake," Andersen tells me. The competition has been canceled, but for me, calm waters means I have no excuse.

Unlike the ritzier parts of southern France along the Mediterranean, Biarritz, on the Atlantic, has the raw, unself-conscious feel of a small seaside town. Andersen and I meet at the beach in the afternoon. I'm hesitant to go in the ocean, so she suggests we just sit and talk for a bit where the water is shallow and allow the lapping waves to wash over us. "I want you to just feel the ocean and its rhythms," she says.

With her flaxen blond hair and fit figure, Andersen, who is 44, has a soulful quality about her and bears a striking resemblance to the actress Robin Wright. When she was a kid, her family moved around a lot, finally settling in Ormond Beach, Florida. Her father was an alcoholic who was abusive to Andersen and her brothers. Her mother, like mine, never learned to swim and was always afraid of the ocean. After Andersen learned to surf, the ocean, where she wanted to spend all of her time, formed a rift between her and her family. At 16, after her father became angry and cracked her surfboard, she ran away from home and moved to Huntington Beach, California. She left a note on her pillow informing her parents that she was leaving to become the number-one female surfer in the world; nine years later she did so.

As we're talking, I'm so focused on Andersen that I'm startled when a small wave lashes me in the face. "That's another thing: Never turn your back on the ocean," she says. "Do you want to walk in a little?"

"Okay," I say, and we go in up to our knees. I believe Andersen when she says that the ocean is unusually calm, but for me, the small waves might as well be tsunamis. I am standing waist-deep now, and each time I see a wave approaching, I shudder and sometimes also shriek. The first time this happens, I sort of leap into Andersen's arms like a baby chimp and wrap my arms around her neck. The sense that this is an unacceptable thing for an adult to do is superseded entirely by my fear that a wave will swallow me and that I'll drown. Andersen is kind enough not to laugh. She instructs me to hop up against the wave's force and, as we tread deeper, plant my feet as each swell passes. She also allows me to hold her hand whenever I need to. "That rocking back and forth can be so peaceful—I really want you to have that," she says. "I go to the ocean wherever I am, whenever I want to get away from all the worries and stresses. Sometimes I'm drowning on land, and I need to get in the water to breathe.

"This is where my confidence lies," Andersen adds. "In the rest of my life, I have all these insecurities, but here I feel confident."

When I ask why, Andersen pauses for a moment. "I don't know. I guess the ocean has never broken my heart."

It seems unlikely I'll ever have that much trust in the ocean, I say. How could I when we are standing in the same body of water that once pinned me to its floor? "But you have to remember," Andersen says, "the ocean didn't do that to you."

I haven't noticed, but I am now standing chin-deep—the farthest out I've ever gone. Though we are more than an hour into my lesson, Andersen hasn't asked me to do any actual swimming. Instead, she's conducted a sort of immersion therapy, distracting me from my anxiety and allowing me to control the pace as we waded deeper. Somewhere along the way, it's almost as if I've forgotten that we're not on land and adjusted to my new environment, standing on tippy-toes and instinctually rising and rocking with the current. When I look back and see how far we are from shore, it feels strange not to feel afraid. I wouldn't describe standing here as peaceful, exactly, but it is not unpleasant.

"Do you want to see me actually swim?" I ask.

Andersen nods, so I hop up and try to remember what Will taught me: kicking from the hip, pulling the water, head not too high. "That's all it is," Andersen says. "The rest is just technique. But having a feel for it and doing what feels natural—that's swimming."

I envy Anderson, for whom the ocean has served as a vast well of courage. Those of us who stopped trusting ourselves early on tend to approach new things with paralyzing trepidation. But to encounter that "sissy" as an adult—to watch her cry in the shallow end of the pool—may be a necessary step, it seems to me now, to building a kind of mental fortitude, a willingness to try what's daunting. Because each time you're able to remain afloat, even for a little bit, you add a droplet to that well, a reserve to tap the next time you lose nerve.

After I leave Andersen, my boyfriend meets me in Biarritz and we drive down the coast, stopping at the beautiful beaches along the way. At each one, I clutch his arm as I wade into the ocean. When I get comfortable enough, I swim to him where the water is almost my height, asking him to stand farther and farther away from me so that I can test myself. Other times I like to just lie down underwater—a rewriting of an old scene—and look around. I still have to hum to pace my breathing, but instead of the long om, my underwater anthem has become Loudon Wainwright III's "The Swimming Song," which a friend sent me during my studies at the Y. It goes like this:

This summer I went swimming,

This summer I might have drowned

But I held my breath and I kicked my feet

And I moved my arms around,

I moved my arms around

This summer I swam in the ocean,

And I swam in a swimming pool,

Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes

I'm a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool.

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Overcoming Fear Of Water: A Guide For Adult Beginners In Swimming

• December 16, 2023

Introduction: Overcoming Fear Of Water

Overcoming fear of water is a common challenge faced by many adult beginners in swimming. This fear, often rooted in past experiences or a lack of familiarity with water, can be a significant barrier to learning how to swim and enjoying the numerous benefits of this activity. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore effective strategies for overcoming fear of water, offering practical steps and encouragement for adult beginners embarking on their swimming journey.

Understanding the Origin of Your Fear

The first step in overcoming fear of water is to understand its origin. For many adults, this fear may stem from a negative experience in childhood, such as a near-drowning incident or being forced into water without proper support. For others, it might simply be a lack of exposure to water during their early years.

Identifying the root cause of your fear is crucial as it allows you to address it directly. Acknowledge your feelings without judgment and remind yourself that it’s never too late to learn and overcome these fears. Understanding that this fear is a common issue for many can also provide comfort and a sense of solidarity with others on a similar journey.

Starting with Small Steps

When it comes to overcoming fear of water, starting small is key. Begin with activities that gradually increase your comfort level. This might mean starting with sitting on the edge of a pool and splashing your feet in the water, progressing to standing in shallow water, and eventually submerging yourself partially.

It’s important to progress at a pace that feels comfortable for you. Celebrate each small victory, whether it’s putting your face in the water for the first time or floating on your back. These gradual steps are essential building blocks in overcoming fear of water and developing confidence.

Creating a Positive and Supportive Environment

A positive and supportive environment plays a significant role in overcoming fear of water. Choose a swimming environment where you feel safe and comfortable. This could be a quiet time at a local pool, a private swimming instructor, or a beginner’s swimming class with other adults who share similar challenges.

Having supportive people around you, be it a coach, friends, or family members, can also make a significant difference. Surround yourself with individuals who understand your fear and are patient and encouraging in your journey to overcome it.

Learning Basic Water Safety

Knowledge is power, and this holds true in overcoming fear of water. Familiarize yourself with basic water safety rules and techniques. Understanding how to stay safe in and around water can significantly reduce fear and anxiety.

Start by learning how to float, how to tread water, and the basics of water safety. This foundational knowledge will not only make you feel more secure but will also empower you to take further steps in your swimming journey.

Breathing Techniques and Relaxation

Proper breathing techniques are crucial in swimming and in overcoming fear of water. Often, fear and anxiety can cause people to hold their breath or hyperventilate, which can exacerbate the fear. Learning how to breathe calmly and rhythmically while swimming can help alleviate anxiety.

Practice breathing exercises both in and out of the water. Techniques like deep breathing or mindfulness can be beneficial. These practices not only aid in relaxation but also improve your overall swimming experience.

Building Trust with the Water

Developing a sense of trust with the water is a critical aspect of overcoming fear of water. This involves learning how the water supports your body and how you can control your movements in it.

Start by practicing floating in shallow water where you can easily stand up if needed. As you become more comfortable, experiment with letting go and trusting the water to support you. The realization that water can hold you up is a significant milestone in overcoming your fear.

Using Swimming Aids

Don’t hesitate to use swimming aids when starting. Items like kickboards, floatation devices, and even swim fins can provide additional support and security. These aids can help you focus on learning specific skills without the added stress of staying afloat.

Gradually, as your confidence and skills increase, you can start reducing your reliance on these aids. This gradual weaning process is an effective approach to overcoming fear of water, allowing you to build trust in your abilities and in the water.

Incorporating Play and Fun Activities

Swimming doesn’t always have to be about structured lessons or techniques. Incorporating play and fun activities into your time in the water can be a great way to reduce fear. Games, relaxed floating, or even just enjoying the sensation of water can make your experience more enjoyable and less stressful.

Viewing your time in the water as a fun and enjoyable activity, rather than just a challenge to overcome, can shift your mindset and help reduce fear and anxiety associated with swimming.

Seeking Professional Help

For some, overcoming fear of water might require professional help. This can be in the form of a skilled swimming instructor who specializes in teaching adults with water fears or even a therapist who can help address deeper, underlying phobias.

Don’t hesitate to seek professional assistance if you feel it’s necessary. The right guidance can provide personalized strategies and support tailored to your specific needs and fears.

Emphasizing Consistency in Practice

Consistency is key in overcoming fear of water. Regular practice and gradual exposure to water help in building confidence and reducing anxiety. Set a regular schedule for your swimming sessions and stick to it. The more time you spend in the water, the more familiar and comfortable it will become.

It’s important to maintain a steady pace without long breaks between sessions. Regular exposure to water helps reinforce the skills and confidence you’ve gained. Even if progress seems slow, remember that every session is a step towards overcoming your fear.

Setting Realistic and Personal Goals

When working on overcoming fear of water, it’s crucial to set realistic and personal goals. These goals should be tailored to your own pace and comfort level. Avoid comparing your progress with others, as each individual’s journey with water is unique.

Start with simple goals like fully submerging your head or floating on your back. As you achieve these milestones, gradually set more challenging objectives. Celebrating these small achievements will boost your morale and motivate you to continue your journey in swimming.

Understanding the Role of Mindfulness

Mindfulness can play a significant role in overcoming fear of water. Being present in the moment and aware of your thoughts and feelings can help manage anxiety and fear. Practice mindfulness exercises before and during your swimming sessions to stay calm and focused.

Mindfulness techniques such as focusing on your breath, observing your thoughts without judgment, and grounding exercises can be incredibly beneficial. They help in managing negative thoughts and fears, allowing you to have a more positive and controlled experience in the water.

Engaging in Positive Visualization

Positive visualization is a powerful tool in overcoming fear of water. Before and during your swimming sessions, visualize yourself successfully performing swimming actions. Imagine the sensations of floating, the rhythm of your strokes, and the feeling of water supporting your body.

This mental practice can help build confidence and reduce anxiety. By visualizing positive outcomes, you’re training your mind to expect success rather than fear failure. Positive visualization, combined with actual practice, can significantly enhance your ability to overcome your fear of water.

In conclusion, overcoming fear of water is a deeply personal and transformative journey. It requires patience, dedication, and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. Remember, the goal is not just to learn to swim, but to build a relationship with the water that is based on trust and confidence. Each small step you take is a significant stride in conquering your fear and unlocking the many joys and benefits of swimming.

It’s important to celebrate every achievement, no matter how small it may seem. Whether it’s putting your face in the water for the first time, floating independently, or completing a lap, each milestone is a testament to your courage and progress. These victories are not just about swimming; they’re about overcoming personal barriers and discovering inner strength.

Additionally, embracing the journey with a positive mindset is crucial. Transforming fear into familiarity and eventually, into enjoyment, is a powerful experience. The skills and resilience you develop in this process extend far beyond the pool, impacting other areas of your life.

Seek support when needed, whether from a professional instructor, a support group, or loved ones. The encouragement and guidance from others can be invaluable in your journey. Moreover, remember that this is not a race. Everyone’s journey in overcoming fear of water is unique, and it’s important to move at a pace that feels right for you.

Finally, imagine the world of opportunities that awaits you once you’ve overcome your fear of water. Swimming is not just an exercise; it’s a life skill that opens doors to new hobbies, better health, and even new friendships. The confidence gained through this journey can inspire you to tackle other fears and challenges in life with the same determination and courage.

Overcoming fear of water is much more than learning to swim; it’s about embarking on a journey of self-discovery and growth. With the right approach, support, and mindset, you can turn what once seemed impossible into a rewarding and enriching experience. Remember, the water is not just a challenge to be overcome, but a new realm to be explored, enjoyed, and cherished.

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• Overcoming Fear of Water and Swimming

By Author Christophe Keller

Posted on Last updated: May 16, 2024

Fear of water (thalassophobia) is the fear of being in or near large bodies of water.

This is a common fear in the population, especially among people who cannot swim.

This article discusses this fear and proposes a few basic exercises in the water to help you overcome this fear.

Fear of Water – Causes

Fear of water can have lots of different causes:

• It often exists as an instinctive fear related to the fear of drowning.
• It can be caused by the fear of the unknown, of what might be lurking below the water surface in deep, cloudy or muddy waters.
• It may be related to a bad experience that occurred in childhood.
• It may have been transmitted to a child by parents that were themselves afraid of water.
• It may have been ingrained by swim instructors that used inadequate or stressful methods to teach swimming.

Putting Things Into Perspective

You don’t need to feel bad if you are subject to fear of water because everyone has a different level of water confidence and this level of water confidence can change depending on circumstances.

For example, I acquired basic swimming skills as a child, and those skills have evolved with practice over the last few years since I took up swimming again.

Nowadays I’m not afraid of swimming in a pool or in small to medium ponds.

However, if I do swim in a lake or the ocean, I still have a certain level of anxiety before starting, and especially so if it’s in an unfamiliar location.

The point I want to make is that even experienced swimmers can sometimes experience fear of water or at least have a certain level of anxiety.

Basic Exercises – Instructions

Let’s now try to address your fear of water by doing a few basic exercises in the water.

To give you the maximum level of comfort while doing these exercises, I suggest the following:

1) All the exercises can and should be done in shallow water. There is no need for the water to go higher than your chest, so you can always feel safe.

2) Doing the exercises in a swimming pool with clear water is best because you can see what is (or more precisely isn’t) in the water and so you will be more relaxed than if you did the exercises in opaque water.

3) For the same reason, it’s advisable to wear swimming goggles while doing the exercises.

This way water won’t get into your eyes, and you will be able to keep them open all the time, which will help you to relax.

4) A supportive person being at your side while doing the exercises can be of great help, and especially so if he/she is an experienced swimmer that is comfortable in the water.

5) If you can’t get the help of a supportive person, I recommend that you do the exercises in a swimming pool supervised by a lifeguard which knows what you are trying to accomplish and can keep an eye on you.

6) Ideally, you should do the exercises when the swimming pool isn’t crowded, to avoid getting stressed out by people that splash or trash water around you.

There is no need to rush through the exercises. The primary goal is always to stay comfortable.

Even if you only manage to do one exercise per session at the pool, it doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable. Slow down if you start feeling stressed out.

Even if it takes several weeks or months for you to complete all the exercises and overcome your fear of water, so be it. Think baby steps.

Acclimating To Water

To get started, we will do a few exercises for you to get comfortable being in contact with water and then to enter the water:

1) At the shallow end of the pool, sit across the pool edge and let your legs dangle in the water, sweeping back and forth. Take your time to enjoy the sensation of the water flowing around your legs.

2) Scoop up water with your hands and apply it to your face, as if to wash it. This is to get used to having your face being in contact with water.

3) Scoop up water with your hands again, hold your breath and then splash the water into your face. As you are wearing swim goggles, your eyes are protected, and you can try to keep them open.

As you are holding your breath and sitting upright, you should notice that the water can’t get into your nose and mouth. Enjoy the refreshing sensation of the water on your face.

4) Slowly get into the water via the steps or ladder in the shallow area of the pool. Make sure that the water doesn’t get above your chest.

Walk around for some time, staying in the shallow area of the pool. Enjoy the sensation of the water flowing around your body.

Submerging Your Head

The next few exercises will let you progressively lower your head into the water until you are comfortable having your head under water. For this exercise, we will stay in shallow water.

1) Hold your breath. Slowly crouch down until your lips are just above the water surface. How does it feel? See if you can get comfortable with having the water so close to your lips. Then stand up.

2) Hold your breath. Slowly crouch down (with mouth closed) and see if you can get your mouth underwater, having the water surface being between your mouth and your nose. Notice that water can’t get into your mouth.

3) After a while, notice that your nose is still above the water surface. If the water is calm and there are no waves, try to breathe through your nose while still having your mouth under water.

Notice that you can breathe through your nose even though your mouth is under water. Then stand up. Repeat this often to get comfortable breathing with your nose being so close to the water surface.

4) Hold your breath. Slowly crouch down until your mouth touches the water surface, then goes under water.

Crouch some more until your nostrils touch the water surface. If possible, hold this position for a few seconds, then stand up to breathe.

What you need to know at this point is that it is entirely OK to have water touching your nostrils or even having some water getting into your nostrils, as long as you are holding your breath and your head is upright.

Because of the way the nose connects with the head, water can’t rise high enough in your nose to get into sinuses in that position. It’s only when the water gets into the sinuses that it becomes unpleasant.

In fact, once you’ll have become an experienced swimmer, you will have water flowing into and out of your nostrils each stroke cycle, without ever having water getting into your sinuses and with you barely noticing.

Now let’s get back to our exercises:

1) Again hold your breath, then crouch down until your nose is under water, the water surface being between your nose and your eyes. Your ears should not be underwater, so slightly tilt your head forward.

Again, notice how some water gets into your nostrils, but at the same time notice that it doesn’t rise very high in your nose and that because of this it doesn’t hurt.

Try to hold this position a few seconds, then stand up to breathe.

2) Hold your breath. Slowly crouch down as before. Now tilt your head slightly backward.

Slowly move down until your nose, and your ears are below the water surface, but your eyes are still above the water surface.

Because you are holding your breath no water can get into your mouth and only a little bit of water gets into your nose. Notice how water gets into your ears, and sounds become muffled.

Again try to hold this position a few seconds before standing up.

3) Now what you need to know at this point is that some water will get into your ears.

But this is also ok because the water will be prevented from going further by the eardrum and will flow out of the ear as soon as you leave the water. So you can’t get hurt.

4) Hold your breath. Now slowly crouch down and let the water cover your mouth, nose, ears and move further down up to the point where your eyes move below the water surface.

As you are wearing swim goggles (hopefully good ones), water can’t get into your eyes. Try to hold this position a few seconds, then stand up again and breathe.

Once you are comfortable with your eyes below the water surface and can keep your eyes open, take the time to observe this strange world below the water surface that opens up to you.

5) Once you are comfortable doing the previous exercise, you can add up the ante a little bit and make a bobbing motion, where you rhythmically submerge and emerge your head.

This will get you used to have your head being regularly submerged, which will be useful later on when learning how to swim the popular swimming strokes .

Blowing Bubbles

Once you are comfortable having your head under water, the next step to overcome your fear of water is to learn that it is possible to exhale in the water without getting water into your nose and mouth.

The best exercise for this is to learn how to blow bubbles.

1) Breathe in while standing in the shallow area of the pool and hold your breath. Then crouch down so that your mouth is below the water surface, but your nose is still above the water surface. Slowly exhale through your mouth, blowing bubbles in the water.

You will realize that as long as you do exhale, water can’t get into your mouth. The same is true if you do hold your breath. Stand up again to breathe in.

2) Repeat the previous exercise but now crouch down so far that only your eyes are above the water surface while your nose and mouth are below the water surface. Keep your mouth shut and now slowly blow bubbles through your nose.

Again you will notice that water can’t get into your nose as long as you hold your breath or exhale. Stand up to breathe.

3) Repeat the previous exercise but now blow bubbles in the water through both your nose and mouth.

4) Finally, repeat the previous exercise but with your head completely under water.

The Human Body Floats Well

So far, we have practiced a few basic exercises to overcome the fear of water and to get used to being in the water.

Now we will see that it is, in fact, easy to float in the water without much effort.

If you get anxious around bodies of water, you may believe that in the water you would sink to the ground like a stone.

If this is the case, it may come as a surprise to you that water, in fact, supports the human body very well. In most cases, people can float effortlessly without using their limbs as long as their lungs are filled with air.

This is because your body, being made of 60% of water, is slightly less dense than water provided that your lungs are filled with air.

Additionally, you may (or may not) remember Archimedes’ Principle from school:

Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.

This means that water will tend to push you up to the surface because your body is less dense than water!

Mushroom Float

Mushroom float is a simple exercise you can do that demonstrates the human body’s natural tendency to float:

Here’s how to do Mushroom Float:

1) Stand in the shallow area of the pool.

2) Take a deep breath and then hold your breath.

3) Curl up into a ball by drawing your legs against your chest, and brace your legs with your arms.

4) Your feet lose contact with the ground, and you can float freely for a few seconds.

5) When you need to breathe, unroll, put your feet on the ground, and stand up to get your head above the water.

While you do this exercise, you will see that your head submerges but that you nevertheless float close to the water surface.

As an additional experiment, you can try to exhale while being curled up. You will see that your body starts to sink as your lungs get empty.

This demonstrates that your lungs help your body to float for as long as they are filled with air.

At the start of the video above, I hold my breath, and you can see that the water pushes me up to the surface.

Then, while I slowly exhale, my body starts to sink as it becomes less buoyant.

Once you have done this exercise a few times and feel how easy it is to be supported by the water, it should become easier for you to relax in the water and this should help reduce your fear of water.

A small minority of people still sink when their lungs are filled with air. These often are very skinny people or people with a very low body fat percentage, for example, bodybuilders. They might need to scull a little bit with their hands or tread water with their feet to float.

The Horizontal Position

In the next step to overcome the fear of water, you will practice getting comfortable in a horizontal position.

The horizontal position is an important prerequisite to learn swimming because most swim strokes spend most of their time in this horizontal position. So do the following:

1) Go to the shallow area of the pool.

2) Crouch down until the water is at the level of your chest.

3) Extend your arms forward.

4) Take a deep breath and then hold your breath.

5) Slowly glide forward in the water, as if sliding forward on a bed made of water.

6) Try to keep your head in a neutral position, in line with your spine.

Because your body assumes a horizontal position, your face will be put underwater.

But because you are holding your breath, the water can’t go up in your nostrils, and you are perfectly safe (this principle was explained above).

7) Slide forward until your body is completely extended.

8) Now try to get comfortable in that position and to hold it for a few moments, until you need to breathe.

9) Your position can be completely horizontal, floating freely and close to the water surface.

Or maybe your position is tilted, with your upper body being supported by the water but your feet still touching the ground. Or somewhere in between.

This depends on your body composition. Either position is fine as long as you can relax and feel supported by the water for a few moments.

10) To stand up, tuck your knees up while moving your arms down. Your body will roll into an upright position. Then extend your legs, touch the ground and stand up.

As explained above, some people (called sinkers) will completely sink to the ground because of their low body fat percentage. If this is your case, your goal is to try to relax for a few seconds while lying flat on your stomach on the bottom of the pool (in the shallow area of the pool).

Gliding In a Horizontal Position

As the last exercise to overcome the fear of water, you will learn to glide in a horizontal position on your stomach and still feel supported by the water. So do the following:

1) In the shallow area of the pool, turn your back towards the pool wall.

2) Inhale, hold your breath, then draw your legs up towards your chest as you did in Mushroom Float.

3) Don’t brace your legs with your arms, however. Extend your arms forward instead, and extend your legs backward at the same time to quickly push against the vertical wall of the pool.

4) Extend your body and try to get as horizontal as possible. Keep your head in line with your trunk and try to glide as far as possible.

5) Eventually, the forward momentum will stop. Your legs may also drop at the end of the glide.

6) To stand up and the end of the glide, do as before: tuck your knees up, roll up, extend your legs and stand up.

7) Repeat this exercise a few times, until you feel well balanced and horizontal during the glide.

Notice that no water gets into your nose as long as you hold your breath even though you are floating in a horizontal position.

To up the ante a little bit, you can try to slowly exhale during the glide or to flutter kick to extend the glide.

As an alternative you can try out the following with a friend:

1) Get into the horizontal position with your arms extended forward but don’t push off the wall.

2) Let your friend grab one of your hands and gently tow you forward.

3) Notice that it doesn’t take much forward movement for you to float in a horizontal position, as long as you keep your body straight and stay relaxed at the same time.

4) Your friend can even release your hand once you have gained some forward momentum. You should still float and move forward a few moments until the momentum stops.

We have covered quite a bit of ground in this article. We discussed possible causes for fear of water, then practiced putting the head under water and exhaling in the water.

After that, we learned that most people float rather well, and demonstrated this with the mushroom float.

Finally, we practiced getting in a horizontal position and then gliding a bit in that position.

While you did these exercises, I hope you discovered that being in the water doesn’t have to be intimidating, but can be quite enjoyable once you can relax and feel comfortable.

Hopefully, with time and practice, you will be able to overcome your fear of water. Don’t rush it, take your time working on those exercises, even if it takes a few weeks or longer. It is worth it!

And once you are comfortable in the water, the next logical step is to start learning a few basic swimming techniques , and then to learn how to swim .

Going Further

If you still struggle with your fear even after doing all the exercises described in this article, Conquer Your Fear of Water: An Innovative Self-Discovery Course in Swimming by Melon Dash might be a good resource for you.

The book aims to get you over your fear of water in 104 detailed steps. Each step is a mini-chapter in the book and can cover various things, such as relaxation strategies, writing about your beliefs or fears, floating exercises in the water, and so on.

The book goes deeply into the psychological and physical aspects of going into the water, getting used to it and being able to relax. Highly recommended.

There’s also a companion DVD available, called The Miracle Swimmer: Learn to Be in Control in Water, Shallow and Deep and Prevent Panic .

Related Pages

You may also be interested in the following articles that cover basic swimming techniques:

• Learn Basic Swimming Techniques
• Getting Over My Fear of Swimming
• Front Crawl / Freestyle Swimming Technique: The Flutter Kick
• How To Do Starfish Float – Basic Swimming Technique
• Breaststroke Kick – Swimming Technique and Tips
• Learn Sculling Water, a Basic Swimming Technique
• How to Tread Water – Techniques and Drills
• How to Dog Paddle – Swimming Technique and Exercises
• Elementary Backstroke: Swimming Technique and Tips
• Enjoy Swimming Home

Wednesday 23rd of October 2019

Hi Christopher,

Thank you so much, this helped me a lot. I am a new swimmer but am too scared of getting water in my ears even with the earplugs, it didn't help. What can I do to get over my fear?

I really need help.

Monday 28th of October 2019

The book and DVD I have referenced at the end of the article are good resources to work on your fear of water.

Also, individual lessons with a good local instructor who has previously worked with people who are afraid of water can also help.

Edit: I saw in another one of your comments that you are 13 years old and just had your first swimming lesson a few days ago.

If this is correct, I think you need to trust your swim instructor and have a little patience, as over time your confidence will increase and your fears should subside.

Sunday 20th of October 2019

Thanks this really helped. I am a new swimmer (13 years old) and today was my first day.

My friend was there but I was too scared of getting water in my ears. I can't stand it, I even had earplugs but they didn't work.

What should I do to get over my fear?

Someone help please..

Tuesday 23rd of July 2019

Hi Christophe, thank you for writing this blog. Very helpful!

I tried to learn swimming in April this year... Had 2-3 incidents when someone had to help me as I couldn't stand up properly in the shallow water in the pool after holding my breath...

I can exhale in the water and have done a small laps using a floatie with exhaling in water and inhaling outside... But just not able to stand firmly if I try to float.

Any guidance on this?

Wednesday 24th of July 2019

Could you elaborate on why you can't stand firmly after trying to float? Are you dizzy? Disoriented? Don't know how to move from the floating position into standing up?

Monday 10th of June 2019

I am having trouble even to submerge my head in water.

I am trying to learn swimming in a swimming pool where water is just on my chest level.

I can't get over the fear of submerging my head. I tried taking a deep breath and putting my head in water but the thought of looking into the water itself gives me chills.

Could you please suggest a solution?

Thanks & Regards

One-on-one lessons with a qualified instructor specialized in overcoming fear of water is best.

Also, the book and DVD I recommend in the "Going Further" section of the article are worth considering.

Wednesday 18th of July 2018

This helps a lot, thanks.

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People also looked at

Original research article, reducing fear of water and aquaphobia through 360 degree video use.

• 1 Département des Sciences de l’Activité Physique, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
• 2 School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• 3 Laboratoire ACTé, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
• 4 Collège Pablo Picasso, Vallauris, France

Drowning is a serious public health problem threat claiming the lives of 372,000 people each year worldwide that can be linked to an individual’s ability to swim. Learning to swim requires limited fear of water. This exploratory study investigated the potential interests of 360° video use for reducing fear and apprehension that underpin aquaphobia. Two students aged 11–12 years old who were non-swimmers with a reluctance to enter the water (i.e., a refusal and/or fear of immersion or to immerse only part of the face or the body in water) participated in qualitative interviews while viewing 360° video of an aquatic environment at progressively deeper levels through a head-mounted display (HMD). Three main findings were identified. First, the use of a 360° video viewed in an HMD led students to live an original corporeal immersive experience, a kind of immersion in the pool but experienced outside the pool. Second, students felt a strong emotional engagement between anxiety and curiosity from exploring the aquatic environment. Third, during the viewing situation, students developed and acquired accurate perceptive cues and knowledge related to the aquatic environment. The implications of these findings highlight the benefits of 360° video use as a tool to enhance greater confidence and familiarity with the aquatic environment to support learning and reduce phobia in non-swimmers. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Introduction

Drowning is a major public health problem ( Tyler et al., 2017 ; Thom et al., 2021 ) and according to the World Health Organization (2014) , drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of 372,000 people each year worldwide. During their annual general conference in Paris in 2015, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO, 2015 ) revised their “International Charter of Physical Education (PE), Physical Activity and Sport” declaring that the ability to swim is a fundamental right for all. The Charter specified that “the ability to swim is a vital skill for every person” (Point 2.2, p. 3). Furthermore, according to Hsieh et al. (2018) , France ranks 11th out of 32 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the number of unintentional drownings. Therefore, learning to swim constitutes a fundamental ability for many educational ministries all over the world.

Learning to swim requires limited fear of water ( Misimi et al., 2020 ; Peden and Franklin, 2020 ), considering that “fear of water can produce phobic behaviors counterproductive to the learning process” ( Peden and Franklin, 2020 , p. 1). For many people this might not be a problem; however, for people who suffer from aquaphobia, this specific kind of phobia can constitute an important challenge in learning to swim. The Cambridge Dictionary defined aquaphobia as “a strong and unreasonable fear of water or of drowning” and is considered to be a “specific phobia” ( Mehta and Espinel, 2021 ), which means “a marked and persistent fear that is cued by circumscribed clearly discernible objects or situations” ( American Psychiatric Association, 2000 , p. 219). Furthermore, Palazzolo (2014) underlines that “aquaphobia is a persistent and abnormal fear of water. It is a specific phobia that involves a level of fear that is beyond the patient’s control or that may interfere with daily life” (p. 1). Some of the more common symptoms of aquaphobia include anxiety, unreasonable fear when exposed to water, avoidance of water, rapid heartbeat, nausea, and dizziness or fainting ( Bakar and Bakar, 2017 ). Therefore, fear of water and/or aquaphobia can lead to difficulties in learning to swim or drowning but also can have negative lifestyle consequences ( Love et al., 1990 ) due to persistence of fear of water from childhood through to adulthood ( Peden and Franklin, 2020 ).

One way for treating such a phobia can be to use virtual reality (VR) tools, for example, which have already been used to reduce arachnophobia, agoraphobia, or acrophobia ( Botella et al., 2017 ). VR is also used for aquaphobia treatment, however to our knowledge, this field is actually not been explored in depth. Tembekar et al. (2019) underlined that VR has the ability to render environments where an aquaphobic individual can experience a fearful situation visually, without any physical danger. These authors used VR to reduce aquaphobia that was assessed by a pulse-rate sensor. They identified a decrease in the heart rate of participants when viewing VR situations.

During the last 10 years, 360° video use has been developed and gained popularity ( Roche et al., 2021 ) and differs from VR. Indeed, VR is computer-generated, three-dimensional, and interactive ( Bryson, 1996 ); however, 360° video does not offer this possibility to interact although it provides an opportunity for more realistic simulation situations and greater learning and engagement in the simulation situations ( Dubiago et al., 2018 ). For this reason, 360° video can offer an interesting way for reducing aquaphobia. Shadiev et al. (2021) underscore that 360° video use can reduce stress about real situations in which participants are “going to act.”

360° video uses in sports and physical education field

Video in the field of sports performance and training has a long history of use with, for example, the seminal work on chronophotography developed by Marey and Demeny (1893) and Rossell (2013) . While the use of video seems to be well established in the field of sport (e.g., Wilson, 2008 ; Fadde and Zaichkowsky, 2018 ; Kok et al., 2020 ; Lee and Chang, 2021 ), the use of 360° video still seems to be in its infancy and early experiments in a developing field of research ( Araiza-Alba et al., 2021 ). Paraskevaidis and Fokides (2020) suggested that the potential of 360° video is still largely unexplored in the research and training fields.

Moreover, 360° video must be clearly differentiated from VR. Indeed, Snelson and Hsu (2019) underlined that in the literature there is some blurring in the use of the terms 360° video and VR. A total of 360° video is defined as “a panoramic video filmed with an omnidirectional camera that allows the viewer to have an uninterrupted vision of the scenes in an uninterrupted circle rather than the fixed viewpoint of traditional two-dimensional (2D) videos” ( Araiza-Alba et al., 2021 , p. 2). VR is based on three main dimensions ( Bryson, 1996 ): (1) VR is computer-generated (not based on the real image), (2) VR is three-dimensional, and (3) VR is interactive, for example, offers the possibility to move objects. If the lack of interactivity of 360° video is pointed out by Torres et al. (2020) , this kind of video can offer the possibility of orienting oneself in the space of the viewed situation and thus perceive certain angles of view and observe only certain specific aspects of a situation ( Roche et al., 2021 ).

In recent years, the use of 360° video has also developed in the field of sports training for multiple purposes: To improve decision-making skills ( Panchuk et al., 2018 ), learn climbing safety procedures ( Gänsluckner et al., 2017 ), increase motivation during practice on fitness devices, such as bicycles or rowing ergometers ( Hebbel-Seeger, 2017 ), and learn motor skills ( Paraskevaidis and Fokides, 2020 ). A total of 360° videos offer the possibility to “improve the fidelity of training by presenting a realistic, 360° view of the competitive environment” ( Panchuk et al., 2018 , p. 1). This strength is similarly noted by Paraskevaidis and Fokides (2020) about the realism of the environment users are immersed in through 360° video. The high fidelity of real competition situations offered by 360° video also allows a high degree of engagement with what the trainees see. Furthermore, 360° videos constitute a new tool for creating more realistic and interactive perceptual-cognitive training environments and a perceptual training tool ( Panchuk et al., 2018 ) because of the first-person perspective it provides ( Paraskevaidis and Fokides, 2020 ; Musculus et al., 2021 ). Panchuk et al. (2018) improved decision-making skills in basketball players following an immersive video test with HMD in which video is played back on the mobile phone of the athlete. In another study with basketball players, Pagé et al. (2019) found as little as four training sessions during which the players observed video clips of basketball plays presented either on a computer screen or using an HMD had demonstrated potential interest in 360° videos for improving decision-making skills.

If video feedback was used in PE class, this technology has been used to lesser degrees in technology-“unfriendly” environments beyond the gym, such as swimming pools ( Kretschmann, 2017 ). This author showed an interest in the use of a tablet for providing video feedback to learn to swim with 5th-grade PE swimming classes. This study demonstrated that a teaching scenario based on video feedback allows for improvement in swimming performance. To our knowledge, there is actually no study based on the use of 360° video to learn to swim, and uses of this technology are actually unexplored in the field of learning to swim. Araiza-Alba et al. (2021) investigated the potential for using 360° video, as a tool to teach children about water-safety skills in comparison with other instructional mediums like traditional video, or posters that present procedures for water-safety. Findings reported participants engaged in the 360° video protocol had higher levels of interest and enjoyment than participants using the other two mediums ( Araiza-Alba et al., 2021 ). A total of 360° videos are considered by Araiza-Alba et al. (2021) as a useful tool to teach targeted skills and a more motivating and engaging tool than using traditional learning methods. Furthermore, previous studies (e.g., Pimentel et al., 2021 ) have shown that 360° video is a powerful tool for developing empathy and also for feeling specific emotions due to the viewed situation (e.g., Gold and Windscheid, 2020 ).

Based on these previous findings, we want to study the effect of 360° video viewed with a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) 1 for smartphones to reduce fear of water and aquaphobia to learn to swim.

Research questions

The objective of this study was to evaluate 360° video uses to reduce aquaphobia among students in a secondary school setting. To address this objective, we posed two research questions:

RQ #1: What is the lived experience (i.e., emotion, perceptions, concerns, and type of knowledge used) by students when watching a 360 ° video of different underwater depths?

RQ #2: How can 360 ° videos be used for reducing aquaphobia-based aspects of swimmers’ lived experiences during viewing situations? 2

Theoretical lens

The study is situated in the theoretical lens of the Course of Action research approach ( Theureau, 2010 ) used in cognitive anthropology and is part of the enaction paradigm and embodied cognition perspective. This lens aims to consider human activity according to a double logic of, activity as enaction ( Varela et al., 1991 ) and experience ( Poizat et al., 2016 ). The object of analysis of this program is the activity, accomplished in a real situation that is, in a given physical and social environment. One component of this program of research is the course-of-experience framework and it contributes to studying cognition in practice. The activity is always considered situated in reference to the theories of situated action ( Suchman, 1987 ) and situated cognition ( Hutchins, 1995 ). Consequently, it is always necessary to consider the particular context (human, material, spatial, temporal, etc.) in which the activity takes place to be able to access the level of the activity that Theureau and Jeffroy (1994) consider that the actor can show, tell and comment on. This level represents what is significant for the actor in situ , in the specific context in which he acts. The situation is therefore significantly constituted by the actor in the course of his actions, as he uses resources offered by the environment. In reference to the theory of enaction, Theureau (2010) considers the actor as autonomous ( Varela, 1989 ). His actions have self-organizing properties because, in the dynamic of his activity, he elaborates on his situations and constructs their meaning. The experience that the actor makes of the situations that he lives in has a subjective dimension (although partly culturally shared), autonomous, and embodied. Although inscribed in a singular action-situation coupling, it also has a dimension of genericity, in the sense that it presents typical traits with other experiences. Interactions between actors and their environment are considered asymmetric in the sense that actors select only elements in the environment that are relevant for them at a given moment to their internal organization ( Theureau, 2010 ). In this approach, activity is considered a course of experience composed of subjective concerns, perceptions, emotions, and knowledge permanently changing over time.

Materials and methods

Participants and procedure.

For this exploratory study, we conducted a multiple case study ( Stake, 2005 ) with two volunteer students (Alexandre and Clemence, first names have been changed to preserve anonymity) from a group of students aged 11–12 years during a PE lesson for learning to swim. By using these cases, the main goal was to design a pilot program based on students’ experiences of struggling with a fear of water and aquaphobia.

All participants were non-swimmers and were extensively informed regarding the aims of the study before providing their written consent and their parents’ written consent. We also obtained the authorization of the school principal and PE teacher for conducting this research. During the first lesson on swimming, these two students had a reluctance to enter the water (i.e., a refusal and/or fear of immersion, immersion only of a part of the face or the body). Alexandre and Clemence participated in the study because of their particular apprehensiveness of water and behaviors to avoid real immersion in the swimming pool. At the beginning of the second lesson, to make sure that the students were able to get used to the aquatic environment, they discovered the bottom of the pool in which they will swim. At the beginning of the lesson, students viewed (only one time to not limit their practice time) 360° videos taken in the swimming pool at different depths. They viewed progressively deeper and deeper 360° videos during viewing situations that were filmed in the swimming pool without pupils in the water. In our experimentation, we uploaded 360° video in a smartphone (for using a gyroscopic sensor) and this one is inserted into an HMD ( Figure 1 ) to render and display the 360° video content.

Figure 1. Head-mounted display for smartphone used for viewing 360° video.

Video viewed in HMD with smartphones (duration 4 min 55 s) presented video images to participants that were recorded at different depths and offered them the possibility to discover and see the aquatic environment in which they were going to swim (without swimmers present to help them to familiarize with underwater conditions without other information to take account) ( Figure 2 ).

Figure 2. Videos from HMD for immersive viewing situations.

Students watched the videos by the pool before immersing themselves in the water. To guarantee positive experiences for the students’ mental health and not to create traumatic experiences, the students were instructed they could stop the viewing experience at any time if they were afraid or if this experience was too unpleasant for them. Furthermore, following the experience of viewing the 360° video and when they returned to the water in the pool, the two students were been accompanied by a dedicated teacher in case they felt intense panic fear.

Data collection

The study used qualitative methods through self-confrontation micro-phenomenological interviews ( Poizat et al., 2022 ) with two students (interviews were made individually immediately after the 360° video experience). This occurred through gathering two categories of data: (1) the swimmer’s verbalization during the interview to elicit their lived experience during the viewing situation and (2) a description of behavior during the viewing situation (e.g., body and arm movements).

During the viewing situation, the HMD screen was recorded with specific software and this film has been used for the self-confrontation interview that was realized at the end of the lesson ( Figure 3 ).

Figure 3. Method for data collection.

The purpose of the interview was to report on students’ experience during the 360° video viewing situation and also their cognitive activity. The self-confrontation interview is a method of documenting an individual’s cognitive activity through the researcher’s questions. For realizing this kind of interview, the actor (here the student) is confronted with records related to their activity ( Figure 4 ), and invited to detail, demonstrate and comment on the most significant points of this activity (in the presence of another person, namely the researcher).

Figure 4. Self-confrontation with swimmer during lap-top viewing.

During the self-confrontation interview, the researcher asked the student to describe their concerns (e.g., What are you trying to do at that moment?), perceptions (e.g., What do you pay attention to? What do you notice?), emotions (e.g., What do you feel?), and what types of knowledge were used (e.g., What are you thinking about at that moment, what do you tell yourself?). For conducting qualitative research with adolescents, Eder and Fingerson (2002) recommend combining interviews with other methods “to capture fully the richness of human experience” (p. 40). In addition to the interview, a Likert scale was filled out by the students to rate their degree of apprehension when viewing the videos shot at different depths because young pupils can sometimes have difficulties explaining their feelings and emotions with accuracy.

Data analysis was realized in two stages: (1) A description of the student’s activity from the ethnographic description; and (2) an analysis of his activity during the viewing situation. The description was built as presented in a protocol with four columns: (1) The time code of the viewing situation; (2) students’ actions during the viewing situation; (3) students’ verbalizations during the self-confrontation interview; and (4) content analysis. Self-confrontation interviews were analyzed in reference to the analytical course-of-experience framework inspired by Peirce’s semeiotic ( Skagestad, 2004 ). The course-of-experience framework is based on the notion of tetradic sign ( Theureau, 2004 ). The tetradic sign is a triad that linked object–representamen–interpretant subjacent to the course of the experience unit. Poizat et al. (2022) defined the object like referred to the actor’s involvement in the situation, the representamen refers to perceptive, proprioceptive, or mnemonic judgment, and the interpretant refers to the activated (or established) knowledge that allows the actor to interpret the situation ( Table 1 ). The course of experience unit refers to practical actions, communications, interpretations, emotions, feelings, and self-talk ( Poizat et al., 2022 ).

Table 1. Example of data analysis.

All data from self-confrontation were coded by two researchers to identify each category of the tetradic sign. When a disagreement arose between the two researchers’ coding, a third researcher was involved to assess discrepancies.

Three main results of the study can be underlined. First, the use of 360° video viewed in an HMD led students to live an original corporeal immersive experience, a kind of immersion in the pool but experienced outside the water. Second, students felt a strong emotional engagement between anxiety and curiosity from exploring the aquatic environment. Third, during the viewing situation, students developed and acquired accurate perceptive cues and knowledge related to the aquatic environment.

A viewing activity close to the real activity in the water

During the viewing situation with HMD, Alexandre and Clemence watched the video as if they were really immersed in the water. Indeed, they carried out a real visual exploratory activity, one that involved them actively engaged in the viewing activity, not only like a spectator but also physically. They are engaged as potential swimmers. What they perceived refers to solid elements that appear familiar, and reassuring for them (e.g., edges of the pool). These elements constitute potential resources for engaging in real in this destabilizing environment. Indeed, they turned their head, and looked up, down, and in all directions. This activity reflects a concern for safety, as they try to perceive where the edges of the pool are located or where they could grab hold if they were in trouble or about to drown. Moreover, by visually exploring the depth of the pool through the 360° video, they built their first perceptual cues in the depth of the pool. Thus, they built landmarks related to depth, and distances from the edges which allows them to project themselves in the way they could move underwater: “ It prepares me to go in the water, I feel more comfortable because I know where I will go, where I can go. Before I saw the video, I couldn’t see where I could go in the water because I’ve never been underwater ” (verbalizations from Alexandre’s self-confrontation interview). While watching the video, Alexandre looked at the bottom of the pool for a long time, turning his head left and right. He forgot that he was not really in the pool but only viewing a video. The viewing situation led him to live an immersive experience in the spatial aquatic environment in which he was going to swim. The viewed aquatic space was experienced as a space of effective body movement. Indeed, he was so “immersed” in the situation that he thought he could observe his feet in contact with the bottom of the pool to envision his movement in the water. During the viewing, the students developed a kind of virtual and fictional aquatic activity, a kind of “doing as in real” without being in the water.

Strong emotional engagement between anxiety and curiosity

During the poolside viewing situation of the 360° video with HMD, students were strongly emotionally engaged in the viewing situation. Indeed, data from the Likert scales showed higher ratings of emotional engagement as they watched deeper and deeper video footage. For Alexandre, his feelings of fear evolved from 1 (not afraid at all) to 3 (moderately afraid) as a consequence video from increased depth, whereas Clemence’s feelings evolved from 3 (moderately afraid) to 5 (extremely afraid). Moreover, during the viewing, Alexandre exclaimed “ Wow, it’s really deep!” (verbalization during viewing with HMD), showing his surprise and his involvement in the viewing situation.

During the self-confrontation interview, Alexander states that he felt sensations of fear related to the aquatic immersion and although it is fictional, he acknowledged feeling a certain anxiety that increased as the viewing progressed. He felt a sensation of fear and anxiety because he was virtually immersed in an uncertain environment, the aquatic environment which he did not know and which he apprehended. The anxiety felt by Alexandre during the viewing situation allowed him after the viewing, to feel less anxious to get into the water and to immerse himself in the water. He declared that he was less afraid, but even after viewing the 360° video with HMD, he still had a slight apprehension about the aquatic environment. Clemence appreciated being able to discover the aquatic environment in which she was going to immerse herself. Thus, she discovered that there was nothing dangerous about being underwater, particularly in an environment that she had never explored: “ Seeing underwater is less frightening, I can see the bottom, I can see that there is nothing dangerous! ” (verbalizations from self-confrontation interview). She remained reassured after the viewing, but this viewing experience was particularly intense emotionally for her. This was evidenced by her making many movements during the viewing, sometimes trying to grasp the edges or the lines of water that she saw in the video. The movements became more pronounced as she watched deeper and deeper videos.

Acquisition of accurate perceptive cues and knowledge related to the aquatic environment

Viewing 360° video at different depths allowed the students to visually perceive the depth without being in the water as when Alexandre was surprised by the depth. In addition, viewing 360° video with an HMD provided the opportunity to observe the pool from the bottom of the pool by looking up as the student was actually at the bottom of the water. The students developed visual knowledge about the pool environment by watching the video and discovering that the amount of lighting and the colors differ according to the depth: “ The deeper I go into the water, the darker the environment, I didn’t know that” (verbalizations from Alexandre’ self-confrontation interview), “ When I am very deep, I see less light ” (verbalizations from Clemence’ self-confrontation interview). Moreover, the sound of the video allowed them to hear in different ways the ambient noise which is less and less audible with the depth and more and more muffled. By viewing 360° video with HMD, students can acquire accurate perceptive cues and knowledge related to the aquatic environment to immerse themselves without apprehension or fear. Viewing 360° video leads them to become more “perceptually” familiar with the aquatic environment. The viewing experience that they live limits the effects of surprise and feelings of strangeness when they discover the depth of the pool. Indeed, by discovering the aquatic environment through a 360° video, the students live an experience that allows them to limit the number of unknown and destabilizing elements in the water, which could lead to creating conditions for a more serene body engagement in real immersion in the pool.

Our findings showed that the use of 360° video viewed with an HMD for a smartphone provided students with a highly emotionally engaging experience of immersion in the aquatic environment. This can be seen to provide an important psycho-emotional effect in reducing the fear and apprehension that underpins aquaphobia in an actual aquatic environment. Based on the three findings, we found that by having a “testing ground” for experimenting with anxiety and curiosity in a safe, emotionally engaging immersive environment provided by 360° video, it is possible the acquisition of relevant knowledge and perceptual cues can help contribute to greater confidence and familiarity with the aquatic environment to support learning and reduce phobia. Our immersive environment constitutes a safe cognitive practice field for non-swimming people by offering them the possibility to escape the situation by removing the HMD if they feel a strong anxiety. While we did not explicitly test these relationships, our exploratory study found the use of HMD served many psycho-emotional benefits for swimming learners. Indeed, Botella et al. (2017) have shown that VR is a useful tool to improve exposure therapy for phobia treatment. Due to its low-cost and its high degree of realism, 360° video can constitute a powerful new tool for aquaphobia treatment. Shadiev et al. (2021) underscore that 360° video use can reduce stress about real situations. Based on our initial findings, we think gathering more quantitative data to confirm our findings would be helpful and transfer tests could be the next step in this research to understand influences on swimmers when in actual aquatic environments.

Interestingly, Alamäki et al. (2021) showed that the use of a low-cost HMD can decrease positive user experiences when they were watching 360° video. Our findings do not fit this perspective because the experience lived by the students is marked by a strong emotional impact and the students reported little difficulty in watching the videos. This can therefore be explained by the age difference of the participants to that of Alamäki et al. (2021) study which used adult participants. Furthermore, these authors showed that the 360° video experience was noted to be better without low-cost HMD. This perspective potentially allows us to consider the use of 360° video without HMD such as viewing on a tablet or sharing with students through a learning management system. Our findings demonstrated that even with HMD for smartphones, positive findings can also be obtained, which can easily lead to a replication of the use of this technology due to its low-cost. Worth consideration, Melo et al. (2016) showed that exposure times can influence spatial presence, which consistently increases with exposure time. These findings lead us to reflect on the use of the different duration of 360° video to develop a more spatial presence and potentially accurate perceptive cues and knowledge related to the aquatic environment.

This study showed that students are engaged in the use of 360° video and this result is in line with Rupp et al. (2019) who demonstrate that 360° video uses are associated with an increased interest in learning and that highly immersive experiences using 360° videos provide positive educational experiences. One perspective for the future development of more positive experiences could be to use more immersive technology like VR headsets.

Virtual reality is used for the treatment of a lot of phobias like acrophobia ( Emmelkamp et al., 2001 ) or agoraphobia ( Botella et al., 2007 ) and numerous studies have shown a large interest in VR uses for reducing phobic symptoms ( Botella et al., 2017 ) and to offer higher degrees of immersion. VR helps people to develop knowledge and perception due to specific situations. But the use of VR remains marginal due to its cost and the technical skills needed to produce this type of resource, 360° video seems more likely to develop in the treatment of mental disorders, phobias treatment, psychopathological symptoms, or even clinical interventions ( Ionescu et al., 2021 ). For the authors, immersive 360° video successfully increases users’ feelings of presence, given their realistic features, and therefore it can yield positive outcomes in clinical interventions (where presence is considered an essential precondition). This aspect is aligned with our findings concerning the activity developed by the students when they viewed the 360° video filmed in the pool. They behaved as if they were in the pool. This feeling of presence is helpful for struggling with fear of water. Other studies showed that 360° video use can reduce public speaking anxiety in children ( Sülter et al., 2022 ) and panic disorder with agoraphobia ( Lundin et al., 2022 ).

One limitation of our study pointed out by the literature about VR HMD is related to motion sickness-like sensations ( Lawson, 2014 ), or vertigo ( Johnson, 2018 ) leading to the abandonment of this technology. In our study (with a small sample), we did not identify such sickness feelings nor differences between gender like Grassini and Laumann (2020) . To be able to envisage a precise use adapted to the characteristics of the students, it seems interesting to differentiate the use of 360° video with regard to levels of apprehension in the aquatic environment that could be identified with the Fear of Water Assessment Questionnaire ( Misimi et al., 2020 ). It could be possible to envisage uses on tablets or with HMD according to the level of fear of water or aquaphobia.

A second limitation of our study is the number of participants. However, we chose to take a multiple case study approach initially which can provide foundations for conducting a mixed method study based on quantitative data (by questionnaires and measurement of salivary cortisol) including data from interviews to obtain a higher degree of generalization of the findings. Finally, another limit remains in the difficulties of collecting young children’s verbalizations. Indeed, Eder and Fingerson (2002) recommend creating a natural and effectively secure context for realizing interviews. For students who are non-swimmers, being interviewed at the pool is not a natural environment, and can lead to certain problems in terms of verbalization of their feelings.

Learning to swim requires limited fear of water ( Misimi et al., 2020 ; Peden and Franklin, 2020 ), and reducing fear of water and aquaphobia is one factor in preventing drowning. This concern goes beyond national concerns and also represents a worldwide priority. Our findings allow us to consider that our approach could be an innovative and potentially effective approach to reduce fear of water and aquaphobia and to promote learning to swim for all children (and also adults) to prevent drowning. Thus, the future work that we will undertake will aim at reporting on a larger scale the potential effects of the use of the 360° video to reduce fear of water and to show how highly emotional and engaging viewing experiences of 360° video (with or without HMD) can lead to a real engagement in the aquatic environment with a less intense affective impact and reduction of fears.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by EForTes laboratory, University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.

Author contributions

LR wrote the manuscript. IC, CR, RF, and SM helped with the conceptual idea and editing. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

• ^ Head-mounted displays (HMD) are projection technology integrated into mounted on a helmet.
• ^ Viewing situation is the situation during which students viewed 360° video filmed in the pool, under the water.

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Keywords : 360° video, immersive experience, learn to swim, aquaphobia, fear of water

Citation: Roche L, Cunningham I, Rolland C, Fayaubost R and Maire S (2022) Reducing fear of water and aquaphobia through 360 degree video use? Front. Educ. 7:898071. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.898071

Received: 16 March 2022; Accepted: 26 October 2022; Published: 22 November 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Roche, Cunningham, Rolland, Fayaubost and Maire. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Lionel Roche, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Digital Technology in Physical Education - Pedagogical Approaches

AquaMobile Swim School

Private Swim Lessons in Your Home Pool

Welcome to the aquamobile swim school blog, fear of water: how to overcome it.

Swimming is a full body workout! Some of the benefits are reducing stress, strengthening your lungs and increasing your flexibility. Swimming can be intimidating especially if you have a fear of water. Being nervous to do something for the first time is completely normal. However, it shouldn’t stop you from doing something you might enjoy. Believing in yourself is key to getting comfortable in the water. Below is your guide to overcoming your fear of water!

Start small by setting goals that match your skill level. Taking on skills one step at a time can make them feel less intimidating. Here are some ways to help yourself set goals:

• Don’t rush 
• Stay consistent
• Enroll in private swim lessons

Much like learning to swim, overcoming a fear takes time. For example, starting with a difficult stroke might put you in a difficult situation and make your fear worse. Getting into the water will show you it’s not so scary. Start with dipping your toes in and then work your way up to swimming longer in deeper water. No one knows the water better than someone who teaches people how to swim for a living. Working with your very own instructor can ease your mind because if something goes wrong, they will know exactly what to do.

Get Proper Equipment

Goggles that fit and a comfy swimsuit are a must! Here are some tips to choose the right pair of goggles :

• Avoid choosing goggles that are too tight
• Try on as many pairs as possible
• Choose ones with thicker padding and thicker straps

When goggles are too tight, they can create uncomfortable creases under your eyes. Additionally, they pull on the bridge of your nose letting more water in and the pressure around your eyes will make them start to hurt. You will only know which pair is right for you by trying them on. Trying out multiple pairs will let you examine the pros and cons of each option. Thicker padding makes for a softer fit and thicker straps won’t get tangled in your hair.

Start Small

Overcoming a fear of water takes time. By taking smaller steps, you can begin to overcome it. There are few ways to get accustomed to interacting with water:

• Putting your head in a bowl of water
• Start in shallow water

Getting over your fear of water isn’t solved by throwing yourself into the deep end! Shallow water is safer for beginners. It’s easier to move around in because there is less resistance. It gives new swimmers time to adjust being in the water before gradually making their way over to the deep end.

Shallow End Activities

When it’s time to hop into the pool, start learning with an instructor in the shallow end. It’s a training space to get you comfortable with your abilities. Listed below are some of the movements that a swim instructor will start teaching you with:

• Breathing exercises
• Kicking techniques

Breathing exercises in the pool will help you learn the basics of how to breathe underwater. The proper technique is to breathe in when your head is in the water and out when you come up for air. Floating will help you stay above the water. A back float can be done by tilting your head back and laying on your back. Gliding can be done while floating by moving your arms in a circular motion to push yourself forward. Kicking comes in handy when learning a variety of strokes. It helps propel your body forward when performing skills such as the breaststroke and backstroke.

Build Up to Treading

Before learning to stroke, you should be able to tread water for 3 minutes without gasping for air. Treading water means being able to keep your head above the water using the rest of your body. This is done by moving your arms in front of you in a back-and- forth motion under the water without touching the bottom or sides of the pool. New swimmers should be introduced to treading water in a warm pool to avoid losing concentration.

Check out our video about how to tread water! It shows how to scull water with your hands and how to perform a bicycle kick. For those looking for a challenge, the whip kick and eggbeater kick are shown as well!

Put Together the Basics to Form a Stroke

Easy and comfortable strokes are the ones to start with when you begin learning. The breaststroke is the easiest stroke to learn because it takes less energy and the technique isn’t complicated. 

After you learn to tread, you can move onto the freestyle stroke. Learning this stroke should be done in steps. Each part should be learned separately. Remember to keep your arms alternating in the water, your fingers together and your face underwater blowing bubbles and breathing to the side. Our video below explains how to freestyle!

Safety Comes First!

Learn all about water safety to protect yourself from injury and drowning. As you gain more confidence, you can move from the shallow end to the deep end using the stroke you are most comfortable with. With proper breathing techniques and someone like a swimming instructor or friend by your side, you can work your way up to swimming on your own.

Set More Goals!

Congratulations! You have started to gain more confidence and hopefully our steps have helped you overcome your fear of water and enjoy swimming. Like with any skill, swimming is something you get better at over time. Set more advanced goals as you get better. Swimming is a fun and healthy activity you can continue to enjoy at any age!

Related Posts | Back to Blog

Election latest: Sunak not taking questions amid talk of Tory battle to succeed him - as Dragon joins Starmer at brewery

A poll has found Reform's Nigel Farage would be the favourite to take over as Tory leader if Rishi Sunak loses the election. Labour says the Conservatives are already battling over the succession. Earlier, the transport secretary denied that the PM's D-Day blunder had lost the election.

Saturday 8 June 2024 23:04, UK

• General Election 2024

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Election news

• PM not taking questions as D-Day row rumbles on
• Sir Keir joined by Dragon to launch small businesses plan
• Farage should take over from Sunak as leader of Tories, poll finds
• Tories will scrap ULEZ expansion in 'backing drivers bill'
• Sunak vows to axe stamp duty for first-time buyers
• Electoral Dysfunction:  What could be in the party manifestos?

Expert analysis

• Rob Powell: It beggars belief someone didn't sound the alarm about PM leaving D-Day events early
• Tamara Cohen: Labour can't believe their luck

Election essentials

• Battle For No 10: PM and Starmer taking part in Sky News special
• Campaign Heritage: Memorable moments from elections gone by
• Trackers: Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Follow Sky's politics podcasts: Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more: Who is standing down? | Key seats to watch | How to register to vote | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency is changing | Your essential guide to election lingo | Sky's election night plans

The Lib Dems have announced plans to create 1,000 new  hospital beds to end the "corridor crisis" in hospitals. 

The party is ramping up its focus on health and social care ahead of its manifesto launch next week, which will include a dedicated chapter on care.

The issue is personal to leader Sir Ed Davey, who is a carer for his son John, who has a neurological condition and learning difficulties.

On the campaign trail in Wokingham, Berkshire on Saturday, he told broadcasters: "The Liberal Democrats are putting health and care right at the centre of our election campaign, and on ambulance delays and waiting times, it's been a crisis.

"We've seen in some parts of the country people's loved ones dying before the ambulances arrive.

"We've seen queues at hospitals as ambulances are waiting to hand over their patients and something has to be done."

Sir Ed said he would "turn around this mess the Conservatives have made" by investing £400m per year to add an extra 1,000 staffed beds in hospitals.

The party says this would help end excessive handover delays and the scandal of patients waiting in corridors to be treated. 

It has also pledged an upfront capital investment of £280 million to expand urgent treatment centres and A&E wards. 

The Lib Dems did not say where the money was coming from, but insisted the the pledge is "fully funded" and more detail will be unveiled in their manifesto - which will include a chapter on care. 

Rachel Reeves has accused the Tories of acting like Jeremy Corbyn with a "fantasy manifesto". 

The shadow chancellor, who campaigned twice to be an MP under Mr Corbyn's watch, has written an op-ed in The Sun in which she said she "totally rejects" the former Labour leader's approach. 

Accusing the Tories of making unfunded promises to cut taxes, Ms Reeves said: "The approach the Conservatives are taking now is the same as the approach Jeremy Corbyn took - and I totally reject it. 

"I’m not going to offer you a fantasy manifesto that writes cheques we could never cash. I will never do this."

CCHQ were quick to point out that Ms Reeves, an MP since 2010, will have campaigned twice for Mr Corbyn's manifesto - at the 2017 and 2019 general elections. 

"Imagine her shock when she finds out she campaigned for this manifesto, and to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister… twice", they said in a post on X. 

The Labour shadow cabinet have been at pains to stress how much the party has changed since its historic defeat at the 2019 election. 

Ms Reeves in particular has been painting herself as fiscally conservative, in sharp contrast to Mr Corbyn who made a number of big spending pledges such as free school meals and the abolition of tuition fees.

The latest attack could risk angering the Labour left, who are keen to see greater spending commitments. 

But Ms Reeves made clear there would be no surprise spending announcements in the party's manifesto when it launches next week, repeating her mantra: "We are a changed Labour Party. I will never play fast and loose with your money." 

Question. If a prime minister is heckled at a rally and there's no backdrop scandal to imbue it with meaning, should it still end up on the news?

I ask because so often in election campaigns, individual and often innocuous events get sucked into the black hole of a political narrative and spat out as something very different and much more dangerous.

Exhibit A - the torrid two days Rishi Sunak has had after his early departure from the D-Day commemorations.

Such was the scale of this saga that even a solitary road sign in rural Gloucestershire was transformed into a symbol of the hapless Tory campaign stumbling from one PR disaster to another - simply because it read "Veterans Way" and happened to be next to a school the prime minister was visiting.

A GP with gripes about the widening of access to medical care topped off the party's hell day after she interrupted Mr Sunak at a rally in Wiltshire.

This was inevitably seen as another blow for the embattled campaign, despite the prime minister giving a fairly convincing defence of his policy.

You wonder how such a situation would have been received had it happened to Sir Keir Starmer - the drama potentially diluted by his huge lead in the polls and polished campaign machine.

None of this is to deny the importance of the D-Day story.

As one pollster put it, the debacle seemed almost "laser guided" to inflict the maximum amount of damage on a leader leaking votes to the right and facing frequent accusations of being out of touch.

That was certainly evident in Bishop Auckland on Saturday.

The Tories took this seat for the first time ever in 2019, but metres from a Conservative campaign stop one former candidate for the party told Sky News he could "never vote for that man" after events of the past two days.

"He's leading them off the cliff like rats following the Pied Piper," he said.

So how can Rishi Sunak change the weather?

Read Rob's full analysis below... 

The polls are stubbornly refusing to move for the Conservatives.

Sky's latest average poll tracker shows Labour on 43.6% while the Conservatives trail on 22.8% - a commanding lead.

And - despite Rishi Sunak appealing to the right of his core vote with policies on immigration and national service, Nigel Farage's Reform party are nipping at the Tories' heels. 

One YouGov poll this week showed the party on 17% - just two points behind the Conservatives on 19%.

Conservative peer and poll expert Lord Hayward has said the Tories have been "flatlining" in the polls. 

"I think the polls have somewhat overestimated the Labour lead but it's still solid and it's still very substantial," he tells the Politics Hub. 

He says Reform's position is "dangerous" to all other parties. 

"What's interesting is that Reform, and other disruptor parties like the Greens, are taking away votes from the major parties," he adds. 

"It will hit all parties, not just the Conservatives, and this what people have to be aware of nbecause voter loyalty is very low." 

He adds that he believes his party's chances of achieving a majority is going to be "pretty difficult". 

Ali Fortescue is joined now by our political correspondent Tamara Cohen , and the pair are discussing whether the Conservatives can dig themselves out of the hole they've found themselves in after a bad week. 

Tamara says there is a lot of deep despair in the Tory ranks. 

"Rishi Sunak refusing to speak to journalists today and just look at the seats that they're visiting. The prime minister in Bishop Auckland, where the Conservatives have an 8,000 majority," she says. 

"Whereas Labour today is in Aldershot - a seat the Conservatives have held for 100 years. 

"Next week we have the manifestos released. Is that a moment for Rishi Sunak to regain a bit of momentum?

"We've also got more debates including our election event and the Tories are chucking out a lot of ideas here." 

Next up on the show is Labour's shadow treasury minister James Murray. 

Ali begins by asking him about Labour's plan to overhaul the business rates system if it gets into power. 

Mr Murray explains that his party wants to replace the current system with one that "rebalances the burden away from high streets and make sure that online giants pay their fair share". 

"People want high streets to thrive... but at the moment they pay a disproportionate amount of tax through business rates," he adds. 

He explains that bricks and mortar stores would be given extra support under a Labour government. 

He reiterates Labour's pledge to not rejoin the single market, the customs union and it will not have the freedom on movement again.

But he says that the party wants to "reduce friction" with the European Union to improve the economy. 

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake is the first guest to appear on tonight's Politics Hub with Ali Fortescue. 

He is asked about the Conservatives defenders seemingly missing in action, saying everybody's time in politics eventually comes to an end, and they have their own decisions to make. 

Mr Hollinrake is among those standing again as an MP. 

"Politics isn't the only thing to do in your life," he adds. "But there are some fantastic people coming through, and we have a fantastic leader in Rishi Sunak." 

Ali pushes him on the criticism surrounding Sunak over his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early. 

"He made a mistake, and he was of course in the commemorations in the UK and in the British commemorations in France," Mr Hollinrake says, adding that the PM has apologised. 

He adds that only one person he has spoken to in his constituency have raised D-Day as an issue. 

"I think it's time now to talk about other issues," he says. 

Moving on now to the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London, he insists the Conservatives want to make sure the cost of moving to a cleaner environment is "sensible and proportionate". 

   Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been trying to move on from anger over his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early – today he refused to speak to journalists.

Last night though, a cabinet minister speaking on live TV told the country his decision was "very wrong". 

But where have all those who would be out defending the Conservatives got to? 

Boris Johnson, long-time deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid, Liz Truss, even Michael Gove, have all deserted the field.

None - apart from Liz Truss - are even standing at the election.

Here's our political correspondent Rob Powell's latest report from today's campaign trail... 

In the last few moments, Rishi Sunak has posted on X about the release of four Israeli hostages in Gaza. 

He said it was a "huge relief" to see them returned home after their "unimaginable ordeal". 

"We will continue to strive towards an end to the fighting as well as safety and security for all," he added. 

Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reposted a message from shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, which said the hostage's rescue was a "glimmer of hope in the darkness". 

Tonight's show begins with a look at the rescue of four Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza earlier today.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces had acted with "creativity and boldness" and they will not relent until all hostages have been returned home. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israeli forces of a "bloody massacre". 

The Hamas-run government in the enclave has said at least 210 Palestinians were killed during the rescue mission. 

You can read all the latest updates in our dedicated Israel-Hamas war blog below...

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