How I Accidentally Became a Swimmer

My First Attempt

One summer during school, there was a coaching camp where students could try different sports. I signed up for swimming thinking it would be fun.

It wasn’t.

I was terrible at it.

I used to swim with my head completely out of the water, struggling to move forward, and getting exhausted almost immediately. Swimming even 25 meters felt impossible. While other kids seemed to glide effortlessly across the pool, I was fighting the water the whole time.

Needless to say, swimming didn’t stick. After that summer, it quietly disappeared from my life.

For years I continued playing other sports, but swimming remained the one thing I never really picked up.

An Unexpected Return

Fast forward to when I was 25.

One weekend morning, I was out on my usual cycling routine when I ran into a friend outside the gymkhana. She was heading to the pool for the first time and asked if I could accompany her for some motivation.

Now imagine a hot summer morning in Mumbai. The sun already blazing, the air heavy with heat. And then imagine looking at a calm, cool swimming pool.

Even though I had no intention of swimming, just being around the pool sounded amazing.

So I agreed.

While waiting on the pool deck for my friend, watching the water shimmer under the sun, I remember thinking how inviting it looked. By the time we were heading home, we had already made plans to come back the next day.

That decision ended up changing everything.

Back to Being Terrible

As expected, I was terrible in the water.

Actually, worse than terrible.

I couldn’t even submerge my head without holding my nose. Being underwater felt uncomfortable and unnatural. And even after I got somewhat used to being underwater, I still had no idea how to breathe properly while swimming.

But we kept going.

As we started becoming regulars at the pool, the lifeguards noticed our struggles and were kind enough to help us out. They volunteered to teach us the basics.

That’s where things slowly started to change.

They taught us how to breathe properly—inhale through the mouth, exhale through the nose. They showed us how to tread water. They even made us swim underwater across the pool.

One of their favorite exercises was throwing a stick into the deep end of the pool—about 15 feet deep—and asking me to retrieve it. If I didn’t get it, they would have to jump in.

So naturally, I made sure I got it.

Of course, none of this happened overnight. It took weeks of practice, trial, and a lot of awkward attempts. But slowly, something shifted.

I started enjoying being in the water.

Soon enough, going to the pool became a daily routine. Every evening after work, I’d head straight to the pool.

The First Real Milestone

Eventually I started wearing a flotation belt and attempting laps.

In the beginning, I stuck close to the wall—just in case I needed something to grab onto. My confidence wasn’t quite there yet.

But then one day it happened.

I completed my first 25 meters without holding the wall.

It might sound small, but for me it was a huge milestone.

That was the moment something clicked. I wasn’t just playing around in the water anymore—I wanted to learn how to swim properly.

Learning by Observation

From that point on, I became obsessed with improving.

I started watching videos online to understand swimming techniques and body positioning. My office building overlooked a community pool, and during breaks I would watch the swimmers there—especially the serious ones.

I’d study their strokes, their breathing, the rhythm of their movement.

Then in the evening, I would go to the pool and try to replicate what I had observed.

It was a lot of trial and error, but slowly my form began improving.

The Coach and the Kids

At the pool where I swam, half the lanes were reserved for competitive swimming coaching around the time I usually went.

Occasionally, I’d speak to the coach and ask him questions about my form.

Over time, he started taking a real interest in my progress. Eventually he began coaching me along with the kids he trained.

In return, I helped provide pacing for his swimmers during their workouts.

It was a pretty good deal—at least for me.

Racing against kids half my age turned out to be incredibly motivating. They were fast, disciplined, and competitive, and trying to keep up with them pushed me to become a better swimmer.

Becoming a Swimmer

As I became more serious about swimming, I started investing in gear—fins, hand paddles, and a pull buoy. I began doing drills and structured workouts on my own.

Swimming had quietly gone from something I struggled with to something I genuinely loved.

Over time, I improved enough that people watching me swim would sometimes ask if I had been a national-level swimmer.

I always found that amusing.

Because the truth was, I was mostly self-taught—with some generous help from lifeguards, a coach, and a lot of patient observation.

Eight Years Later

Since that day I decided to accompany a friend to the pool, I’ve never really stopped swimming.

Eight years later, I’m what people would probably call a water baby.

There’s something incredibly peaceful about being in the water—the rhythm of breathing, the quiet focus of each stroke, the feeling of moving smoothly through the pool.

It’s funny to think that the one sport I struggled with the most as a kid eventually became the one I fell in love with the most.

And it all started with a chance meeting, a hot summer morning in Mumbai, and a very inviting swimming pool.