How I learned to swim

Somehwere around 1949 0r 1950 I learned to swim.  the prelude to that was highly traumatic.  Mom had me down at Pleasant Lake beach, which is nothing like it is today, and tried to hold me flat on the water and told me to kick my feet and paddle my hands.  This was pretty much unsuccessful.  A week or so later, I was at the beach with the family and strayed westward towards the dreaded “drop off”.  I can tell you I knew I was pushing my luck but I did reach the end of the beach, near where it is today, and in the course of time started down the slope of no return.  Indeed, I was soon over my head and somewhat buoyant since I had full lungs.  However, I was slowly sliding down the very steep drop off to 20′.  I pretty quickly knew I was in a life or death struggle here. Instinct took over and I twisted around towards shore and with what little grip I could muster on the silty bottom tried to climb the slope. Soon I could feel some upward progress and soon made it above the water surface and gasped a breath.  It really scared me and is a vivid memory even to this day.

I decided right then and there I was going to swim and I did learn to swin in the next week or so – maybe even that same day but I have no recollection of that even other than the smiles of Mom and Dad.  The rest of the summer was bliss since all the restrictions of going to the beach were removed and my cousin Jim and I had a blast.  Cousin John also learned to swim sometime that summer and may have been a motivator too.  Every year after that and until they moved away when I was in the First Grade we were on the water and swimming.

I have loved the water all my life and was not really scared of it.  I ended up being a sailor on the big waters, a scuba diver of exotic spots and have never been far from the water every since.  Thanks Mom, Dad and Grandpa Lyons.

SCUBA Diving and other

After watching “DRENCHED” on Youtube I decided it was time to log this bit of life that is mine.

Somewhere around 1957 a Navy guy landed in Pleasant Lake with a big kit. And somehow he ended talking to Dad at the Hardware.  It turns out he was a UDT type guy from the Navy hitchhiking back to Michigan after his discharge.  Dad invited him to come to the evening family dinner and he agreed to do so.  Well, we had a great chat and finally he volunteered he had used the scuba gear and had the full outfit in his kit.  I had watched Loyd Bridges on Sea Hunt so I was really intrigued.  In the end, Dad had invited him to stay and teach Andy & I to scuba dive for the next week.  I immediately love the below water scene and embraced it fully.

That same summer I used all my savings and some from Dad to buy a scuba tank, fins, a small amount of weights and the regulator.  I started diving but had a problem – no one would fill my tank.  Angola had a place called Botts Welding,  that was right on top of where the current Walmart is now, but when I called they asked my age and I told him so he said only if Dad authorized it would he fill the tank.  Dad called him and he said OK.  Simple as that I was a Diver. No PADI, no certifications, no nothing.  Over the years a dive club formed in Angola and I was a loose associate.  They were all much older than me but I know the physics a lot more than they did so I was sort of adopted into the group.

Most of my diving was in Pit Lake at the time and the club loved this. The waters were not deep so it was a perfect training ground and we taught a lot of local divers in this lake.  It is the Boy Scout camp now and is totally off limits to the public , local or otherwise.  One day this guy with the last name V… brought a guy who was sort of marginal and not a good swimmer.  So we strapped on the gear and went down a few feet and came back up.  He seemed ok so we presented an lot of technical data relating to diving and he repeated it back.  We proceeded to dive the bottom across the lake from the beach and he was OK until we reached about 3/4 across the lake (about a 1/4 mile wide and 20′ at that spot).  He panicked and dashed for the surface fast.  We did not dare to follow so fast (you only can rise as fast as your smallest bubbles) but we did follow.  He was in full panic when we got to the surface so I started to Red Cross Lifeguard carry him to the beach.  The other guy V took over about half way back and we got him to the beach.  It was a bad deal and we never dove that lake again as a group.  Too bad since it was the perfect training and clear lake in the area.

The club did a lot of diving in Crooked Lake but the silt was so bad vis was only 5′ and not really good for anything except basic scuba breathing underwater.  Pleasant Lake did have an event called a “Submarine Rodeo” that we dove a lot in after years.. The Lions Club sponsored this event and all the divers in the tristate area would come to participate.  There was a “weight carry”, a find the submarine, fastest swim and other shallow water diving events like compass course, etc.  I almost won the weight carry and came in second one year.  I was also on TV, Channel 15, one year with a celebrity who wore my gear to go about 3′ under water and had a real interview on scuba diving.

There is lots more and if I ever get there again I will come back and add as an addendum.