When I was younger, my friends and I went through what I now think of as the Guinness Book of World Records phase of our development. We couldn't get enough of that book. Well-thumbed copies of it were passed around the classroom, and in our spare time, we wondered what we could do in order to be listed in the next year's edition and achieve everlasting fame.
Certain things were out. We couldn't set the record for pulling a train by our teeth, and we weren't old enough to drive, so we couldn't amass enough moving violations to surpass the guy who had run up a bazillion tickets in less than an hour. And none of us wanted to change our legal name so that we would have the longest moniker on record.
Like all phases, the addiction to the Guinness Book passed. But the other day, I saw a promotion on our neighborhood listserv, and it brought back all those crazy memories. Here's a snippet:
"Help break a world record - and get a free swim lesson in the process. On June 14, people in more than 500 pools, including 46 states, 24 countries and five continents, will pool their efforts for an attempt at the World's Largest Swim Lesson world record."
The article said veteran swimmers as well as non-swimmers were invited. And that was how, on Saturday, I found myself at one of our local pools at 11 a.m., ready to take part while others joined in around the globe. Instructors and lifeguards would be present for the lesson. Something else really cool? The record attempt was also an opportunity for swim instructors and lifeguards to undergo training with a large group present in the water.
The website for the organization included a searchable database so users could find a swim lesson near them, and it also included information so that local pools could sign up as host facilities. The listserv message that went around my community also included information on where to find group and private swim lessons in the area, so it was actually a promotional tool, as well.
Fortunately, our weather was perfect for the free lesson, and I arrived to find a big group of people ready to take part. I wound up talking to two women my age. During the course of our conversation, they told me they had never learned to swim during their childhood because of a combination of factors - lack of opportunity followed by a growing fear of the water and, by the time they hit adulthood, embarrassment over not having a skill that so many others took for granted.
"But now I really want to learn," one of the women told me earnestly. "I don't need to swim across the ocean or anything, but I want to know how to swim in case I fall in the water, or in case my car goes off a bridge or something." She looked stricken.
Her plight - not being able to swim as an adult - turned out not to be all that unusual. A lot of people at the lesson weren't at all familiar with staying up in the water. But as the day wore on, I spent time watching people, many of them adults, lose their fear of the pool, thanks to the patient instructors who worked with everyone, no matter their skill level. I got to see my new friends learn survival floating techniques as well as basic swim strokes. By the time they climbed out of the pool, their confidence had skyrocketed.
I think this might have been one of the greatest summer kickoffs I've ever seen, as well as a truly neat public service. It's also a great challenge to other sports to find similar ways to get people excited, involved and active. There are probably as many options for "World's Largest" as there are sports, and I'm sure there are just as many people out there who'd like to find their way into the Guinness Book. Never underestimate the power of the bucket list.
