Vijaya Srivastava, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, took her first swimming lesson at age 68. She’s now a daily swimmer.
By Chris Colin July 6, 2021
“It’s Never Too Late” is a new series
that tells the stories of people who decide to pursue their dreams on their own
terms.
Vijaya Srivastava’s first 68 years
had been resolutely land-based. She walked the Berkeley Hills in the San
Francisco Bay Area, spent time with her young grandchildren, volunteered at the
library. None of this required submersion in water, which suited her fine, what
with water being terrifying. Fear of drowning was a big issue.
Growing up in India, she never had
access to swimming pools. By the time she moved to the United States, the idea
of backstroking to and fro simply didn’t occur to her. Then one day her
physician mentioned that regular laps would improve her health.
“I can’t swim,” Ms. Srivastava, now
72, confessed. She’d never even put her face underwater.
“Have you heard of lessons?” the
physician asked.
“At my age?”
“Why not?”
What followed might have been a long
period of pondering that question. That’s not what happened. (The following
interview has been edited and condensed.)
Q: What were your first steps?
A: The first thing I did was ask a
neighbor if she wanted to take lessons together. We hired a high school kid,
from Albany High. She had lifeguard training — I liked that.
“Have you ever trained a senior?” we
asked. She said no. OK.
We started lessons three days a week.
Once I decided to learn, that was it.
I went to the pool on the days between lessons. I started to dream about
swimming. I’d wake up excited. When I couldn’t get to sleep, I would swim in
bed. My husband would say, “What’s going on? This isn’t a pool …”
I also bought many bathing suits — I
thought one of them might be lucky. Later I realized you don’t need 10. I
donated quite a few.
Did you do any research into
swimming?
After my first lesson, I started to
Google. At first I would just watch anything on YouTube had about how to swim.
That got confusing. Later my daughter told me about Total Immersion Swimming
videos. There’s a guy who gets into the physics of swimming — that helped me a
lot.
Also my grandkids would go underwater
and watch my breaststroke, or sit in the hot tub and give me thumbs up or
thumbs down.
What were the biggest challenges?
Being petrified. Nothing had ever
happened to me to make me scared. It was just knowing that I could drown. For
the longest time I stayed in the shallow end, four feet. I prayed before every
lesson.
And not having enough stamina. My
arms and legs weren’t ready. After half an hour I was so tired.
Was there a moment when it all
clicked?
After a few months, the instructor
started telling me, “It’s time to go to the other end.” I kept saying, “I’m not
ready.” She said, “You are.”
Finally I decided if I don’t try,
it’s never going to happen. The instructor said she’d be next to me the whole
time.
“But you’re so tiny!” I told her. She
promised she wouldn’t let me drown.
So I started swimming. When I hit the
six-feet marker — I’m 5 foot, 4 inches — I knew there was no turning around.
Also, I didn’t know how to turn around.
Finally I made it to the other side.
My neighbors from the condominium were over in the hot tub. They’d been
watching me struggle for the last few months, and now they all stood up and
clapped for me.
I didn’t wave back until I caught my
breath and swam back to the shallow end. There’s no way I was taking my hand
off the wall in the eight-foot end.
What would you have done differently
when you started?
There’s not much I would do
differently. Maybe start earlier.
How has your new pursuit changed your
life?
When we talk about it — my nephews,
my children — they sound so proud of me. Not too many people my age, or in my
family, swim. It’s a good feeling that I’ve done this. I talk to my family back
home in India. My brother can’t believe it.
What’s next?
I was talking to a friend about
learning how to dance — maybe we could take dance lessons?
What would you tell people who feel
stuck and want to make a change?
I found it good to have my neighbor
swimming with me. We would motivate each other. If I was tired that day, she
would say let’s just go for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes turns into half an hour.
Has your experience made you a
different person?
Swimming a pool length for the first
time at the age of 68 — that will always stay with me. Last Friday I swam 20
laps! It took me 52 minutes. I still take a break after laps. My next goal is
to do it continuously, without taking a break. I’ll get there.
What do you wish you had known
earlier about being fulfilled?
I have a very good friend who told me
to know your body, know yourself — what makes you happy, healthy, angry. That
always stayed with me. That helped me a lot.
But there’s not much in my life I
would change. If you’re relaxed in your mind, and happy, that brings you
health. You don’t need too many things in life.
What lessons can people learn from
your experience?
Don’t give yourself an option to give
up. I never thought about quitting. If I invest mentally, I don’t quit.
We’re looking for people who decide
that it’s never too late to switch gears, change their life and pursue dreams.
Should we talk to you or someone you know? Share your story here. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/16/reader-center/never-too-late-callout.html
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