Level Three. Aim and Achieve.
By Michelle Lloyd.
It was a difficult subject to broach and RV was not up to lengthy talks about it. Swimming had become his ultimate aim and achieve task, the only problem being that he was too fearful to do anything about it.
At home it became well known that the watery L plates had become a focus as they sat out on the table top looking at RV, a sign of his failure to swim and he in turn looked at them defiantly. He did not need them. He would not use them.
It was a bit of an ongoing subject for RV and his parents but nothing they could do seemed to get him into the armbands or out onto the water.
New One, Little Herbert and Lana had all been invited around one afternoon to play with RV and it was oddly enough that the paddling pool put out for them gained quite a bit of attention from one of them. It was Lana who found the body of water irresistible. She was into it and despite not really having known what to do, keen to do a doggy paddle of her own. It certainly was not conventional. She flopped in, lapped at the water and looked to love her ability to sort of float and flip herself about. New One, Little Herbert and RV thoroughly loved watching her love the water.
It was not the encouragement of mum or dad and not even the advice of his friends, Little Herbert or New One but Lana who managed it, the passionate doggy paddle got RV into the water that day.
Armbands on and water around him, RV took a leaf out of Lana’s book and thought that maybe fun should outdo any embarrassment he thought he would have felt. It was RV and Lana who swam a lot that afternoon and both loved what swimming could be like…not too long after that lovely first time and RV did not even need the armbands anymore. He was adept and a keen swimmer had been born.