Fear of water, or ‘aquaphobia,’ is a common phenomenon. More than half of adults suffer from this phobia and are set off by things that strong swimmers wouldn’t even think about twice. Looking out into the water of an ocean or lake, the deep end of a pool, or simply a filled bathtub can bring on paralyzing fear – even if it clearly doesn’t pose a real threat to the person.

Someone’s fear of water is almost always rooted in a past bad experience. Near drownings and boat accidents are a couple of the biggest reasons for developing the phobia. We’ve also seen adults, who were once comfortable in the water, develop their fear while raising kids because of the number of tragic stories of children involved in water-related accidents.

There is good news, though. This fear doesn’t have to be permanent. We’ve seen people young and old conquer this fear and become confident swimmers who enjoy this form of recreation for a lifetime.

How to Overcome Fear of Water

We understand that adults living with a fear of water need to be taught differently than children, and that teaching strokes – before comfort and safety – is counterproductive to helping adults conquer their fears.

When you sign up for our adult swim program, you’ll have five different class options to choose from for beginning your lessons. Each one is based on a different level of ability in the water. Our most basic level course is ‘Introduction to Swimming,’ a 90 minute course meant to answer any questions about swimming in which we can evaluate your skills. We suggest this class for anyone who has never swam before or considers themselves afraid of water. Our next four classes level up progressively based on ones comfort in water and ability to control one’s self in deeper waters. We highly encourage everyone to take our short swimming quiz at the bottom of the adult swim page to better understand which class they should take first.