As sisters growing up in south-western Sydney, Diane and Lorraine remember sitting on their dad’s shoulders as he waded deep into the ocean.
Mum — who couldn’t swim — would watch on from the sand, minding one of their six siblings.
“A few times, the waves were huge, and we got dumped, which terrified me,” Diane, now 71, says.
“Dad didn’t do it on purpose, and it didn’t even happen that many times, but it really scared me, and I still hate that feeling of my feet not being on the ground.”
Unable to afford swimming lessons, neither learned to swim, while their parents told them to stay out of the pool, and wouldn’t let them participate in school carnivals.
Diane Jaeger (second from left) has vivid memories of being ‘dumped’ in the water as a child. (Supplied: Diane Jaeger)
Diane remembers her father as an “anxious” person, who had returned with PTSD from the Second World War.
“He had a lot of anxiety about safety… even walking to school by yourself,” Diane says.
“I think Mum and Dad were fairly anxious about us going into the water … so it was not really a thing we did as a family.”
Both Diane and Lorraine, 74, took the initiative to learn to swim as adults, but neither was successful.
“I was never able to conquer that fear of not being able to touch the bottom of the pool or the ocean,” Lorriane says.
“I don’t even like putting my head under the water in the shower,” Diane adds.
“I just get that feeling of drowning almost.”
While for Diane this means avoiding the water almost entirely, Lorraine lives for getting her feet wet.
Lorraine Dwyer, left, loves the ocean but hates the feeling of not being able to touch the bottom. (Supplied: Lorraine Dwyer)
“The ocean can give you a sense of freedom,” Lorraine says.
“I sort of have this fantasy about it. It’s so calming, and beautiful … and I love walking along the rocks.
“But I’d never swim in the ocean. I’d be too embarrassed. I worry that if I go out too far I’ll get dumped and make a fool of myself.”
It’s a story Jacqueline Wong knows too well.
Originally from Aotearoa/New Zealand, she lives in Melbourne and runs a business called The Swim Project dedicated to teaching adults to swim.
She says a fear of the water — otherwise known by the technical term “aquaphobia” — is the “most common thread” among her clients.
Swim teacher Jacqueline Wong says many of her adult students live with aquaphobia. (Supplied: The Swim Project)
“Aquaphobia has a significant and prolonged, maybe [even] lifelong impact on the way someone leads their life,” Wong says.
“What that looks like is avoiding the water, or holidays around the water, and perhaps being triggered by certain noises, sensations [like the feeling of your feet not being able to touch the bottom of the pool] and smells [like chlorine].”
Fear of the water linked to drowning and history of traumatic events
Wong says fear of the water is more prevalent than we realise, with several factors influencing how likely someone is to develop it.
The most common is experiencing a traumatic event (or events) related to water, while another is “modelling” received from family members, especially parents.
Fear of the water is often linked to a previous traumatic event or family “modelling”. (Getty Images: Alexi Rosenfeld)
“If a family member has had a severe traumatic event in the water, the chances that a child is scared of the water increases,” she says.
“That’s why it’s even more urgent that adults find a space where they are comfortable to learn and gradually expose themselves to the water.”
Brendon Ward, CEO of SWIM (the national peak body for swim instructors and teachers), argues that alleviating fear of the water is critical in a country where drownings still occur regularly.
While Australia fares relatively well on a global scale, The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 300,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide.
Brendon Ward says alleviating aquaphobia is key to reducing the number of drownings in Australia. (Supplied: SWIM)
A significant portion of those are the result of “accidental immersion”, referring to a situation where the person who drowned had no intention of entering the water.
And with more than 85 per cent of the Australian population living less than 50km from the coast, Ward says the case for improving adults’ swimming skills is clear.
“A large number of Australians are at risk of drowning each and every day,” he says.
“Every Australian needs to learn how to swim and have those life-saving skills, not only for themselves, but to potentially help someone else.“
Current environment unsuitable for those with fear of the water
Helping adults with aquaphobia, however, is not as simple as putting them in swimming lessons.
Wong has worked with a number of Australian adults like Diane and Lorraine who have tried unsuccessfully to learn to swim before coming to her.
“That tells me that the method isn’t working, and the environment isn’t right,” Wong says.
Most adult swim programs, she explains, run half-hour classes, and in some cases, anxious beginners may be placed in groups of up to six people of varying abilities (including some who can already swim) while the teacher stays outside the pool.
There are also rarely lanes available for adults to practise basic skills, which means they must either spend time in the busy “free” area, often filled with small children, or in a dedicated “slow” lane with those swimming laps.
Wong says this can leave those who are aquaphobic feeling “intimidated, unsupported and unsafe”.
“Automatically you’re setting them up to fail, because they don’t feel like they belong,” she says.
“If someone has attempted to learn multiple times [without success], it just reinforces the idea that it’s too hard or too late [to learn].
“That’s when shame and embarrassment can set in, and it becomes a bit of a perpetuating cycle.”
Wong says the way in which adult swim classes are often run can cause aquaphobic students to feel “intimidated, unsupported and unsafe”. (Supplied: The Swim Project)
Wong’s approach to teaching adults with a fear of the water starts with meeting them where they’re at.
“I listen to learn, and try not to make any assumptions,” she says.
This means “not rushing” clients into anything that makes them uncomfortable, like putting their head beneath the water, or “getting them horizontal”.
Instead, Wong will start by introducing “fun” activities like doing “star jumps” in the water, or other exercises that “decrease the fear factor”.
“It’s about building a healthy relationship with the water, self-trust, confidence and connections with other adults who are also on this journey,” she says.
She also keeps classes small, and is “realistic” with her clients about how long it may take to change their relationship with water.
Wong says one of the keys to successful adult swimming lessons is “not rushing” the students. (Supplied: SWIM)
“It takes up to a year of consistent learning and practice to build the muscle memory required to overcome fear and build mental resilience,” she says.
“Once they get there, the opportunities to engage in other water activities like surfing and snorkelling are endless.”
She says the best part of helping adults with a fear of the water is the impact it can have on other areas of their lives.
Former clients, for example, have later contacted Wong to say they have taken their children to the beach or pool to learn to swim.
“I don’t take that for granted, because it’s a really big decision to learn to swim as an adult,” she says.
“The joy for me is seeing someone choose courage, not only in the pool, but in other areas of life.”