Swedes (who swim in lakes, rivers, the sea, at night – you name it) always think I am really weird because I do not go into water where things live, and I don’t go into swimming pools at night. Ever. I am afraid. I hate it. Just the thought of other things swimming in there freaks me out, though I have friends who do wild (open water) water swimming and love it.
I am a really good swimmer – I used to swim competitive butterfly stroke until my early twenties, and I trained as a lifesaver at school, where we had to do sea rescues. I am happy on boats, big and small. But I have never liked being out of my depth in the sea and I refuse to swim in rivers and lakes. I also don’t like regular swimming pools when it is dark because I cannot see what is down there. I am not a fan of swimming pools that are painted black.
I grew up in great white shark territory, so we were taught from when we were very small to look at the shark flags, check with the lifesavers how the nets/bubbles are etc etc. Also, where I come from, certain rivers and lakes contain bilharzia, which I would not want – ever. So that is an extra component added to what is not exactly a phobia but more a deep fear.
I have read that many experienced sailors don’t like being on the open sea at night. Maybe it is a primal thing?
Swedes though – where there is water, they are swimming!
How about you?