Scared Swimming In Deep Water

I get scared swimming in deep water. I’m a beginner and I know how to swim breaststroke. When I try to go to the deep part of the swimming pool (2m) I get scared. How can I overcome this fear?

This is a very common fear especially with beginners.

When swimming in deep water, it is important to understand that the buoyancy of the human body remains the same in all depths of water. In other words you will float in deep water just as well as you float in shallow water, therefore your ability to swim in all depths of water remains the same.

Firstly you have to have confidence in your ability to swim to the side of the pool no matter what part of the pool you are swimming in.

To do this you must first become stronger swimming within your depth, where you know you can stop and stand up at any point. Practice changing direction and swimming to the side of the pool, still within your depth. This will build confidence in your own ability.

Next try swimming away from the wall for a distance and turning around to swim back again but without touching your feet on the pool floor. If you are able to do this exercise without placing your feet on the bottom of the pool then you may find swimming in deep water a little easier.

If you have proved to yourself that you are able to change direction and swim back without touching the pool floor, then it makes no difference how deep the pool is.

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