Hi, I am a a non-swimmer, who loves water and would like to take up the glorious activities of water-skiing, wind-surfing and yachting. (Yes, I would like to do all of them before I die).
I have taken tens of group lessons as an adult in a variety of towns, over the years, but the final stage of confidence, i.e. treading water successfully in depths of more than 1.75 metres has always eluded me.
Is there a teacher in the Zurich area who can provide one-to-one lessons in English to train me to finally swim and keep myself afloat?
I'm not looking for a one year course e.g. group courses in Oerlikon, I'm really looking for a skilled teacher who can get me going from water which is neck height to deeper water.
And be experienced, since I've been told that I have one of those muscular morphologies which amazingly helps me to sit at the bottom of the deep end, without the use of weights. Most teachers don't believe me until they see it with their own eyes.

Hi there. That's a challenge. A real sinker! (The name for folk who literally don't float).

First question - if you fill your lungs with air, do you still sink, or lie about 20 cms under the water surface?
Are you really relaxed when you go down?
If you can relax completely, which 'angle' does the body have as it goes down? Do you sit on the bottom of the pool without a conscious effort, or do you 'sit down' when you get there? I know this probably seems a silly question to you but it's quite interesting for me. Most sinkers I have worked with 'lie at an angle'.
The ‘relaxed’ point is very important. Muscles which are tightened are denser, denser is ‘less volume’ and thus floats less well.

If anyone is interesting in trying this out, lie relaxed on your back in the water and tighten all the muscles on one side of your body. See what happens.

'Treading water' is the phrase used to keep oneself above water. In synchronized swimming the 'egg beater technique’ is used - but for those not very skilled at it, it takes a lot of energy and thus a lot of oxygen.

'Skulling' with the hands takes a lot less energy and works well too. However, it takes quite a bit of practice and I don't think it is normally taught in 'swimming lessons'. A lot of folk swim 'faster' to keep above the water. I taught folk to float first. Then swim forwards.

From the safety point of view, one of the problems is that the mouth and nose are in the 'wrong places' in the head. The Brits say 'achieve a safe breathing position' which is often best achieved on the back. Particularly in the case of muscular men, the legs will then hang down at an angle. No-one I have ever worked with has naturally stayed in a near vertical position with the mouth above water unless they tip there head right back. In contrast, many middle-aged ladies find it difficult to 'stand up' from a position on their backs because they cannot get their legs and hips to go down. The extra fat in this area of the body simply floats too well.

As you are obviously not afraid of water as such, short fins can help. Used in a vertical position they will give much more up-thrust.

Of course, if you get really good at a vertical dolphin kick, you can emulate Michael Phelps, who, in training, puts 7 kilos of lead round his waist, and doing a dolphin kick (without fins!!) kept his head out of the water for 40 seconds at a time. (It might have been longer – he did repeats anyway). And he didn’t cheat by helping out with his hands...

Helloits a surprisingly common thing with adults learning to swim.Nothing is impossible and confidence is a huge factor when it comes to the water.I am a sports teacher from canada and have taught many adults new sports and life fitness activities,including swimming.I was also a sinker when I was younger and superfit.Are you muscular with low body fat?Doesnt matter really,if you are interested,pm me on this site.enjoy,Wendylynn-I am also a native english speaker.