“I am thankful to the YMCA swim staff for being so encouraging, lively, and supportive. They enabled me to fulfill my long-cherished dream of becoming an independent swimmer.”-Shikha
Shikha dreamed of learning to swim from a very young age. “Coming from a conservative and traditional country and being a shy girl by nature since my childhood, I never could gather the courage to swim, even in closed swimming facilities at my university campus in Varanasi, India,” says Shikha. Now an adult with a family of her own, Shikha says the YMCA has helped her discover her love of swimming.
“In April I enrolled myself and my son in private swimming lessons,” she says. “Two swimming students from a different age groups and my instructor, even less than half my age. The task initially appeared very difficult, as we had some fears and inhibitions.”
Shikha says the YMCA has become an important part of her family’s life, and she is grateful to the Y’s swim instructors for helping her and her son learn proper swimming techniques and feel more comfortable and confident in the water. “We are able to now swim independently, and we are gradually building the stamina to complete laps faster.”
“I am thankful to the YMCA swim staff for being so encouraging, lively, and supportive. They enabled me to fulfill my long-cherished dream of becoming an independent swimmer,” she says, “I owe my newly-acquired talent to my swim instructor, my guru – “Miss Angel”. I can proudly claim that “Water is my Sky and Chlorine is my Perfume!”