<p>I learned how to swim when I was 8, and my ex was an avid recreational swimmer, but my son was seriously phobic about the water when he was young (among other things – he went almost two years without ever setting foot in the kitchen), and simply refused to learn. It would not have been a good idea to force him. By the time he got over his phobia, in his early teens, he was too embarrassed to let anyone know that he couldn’t swim, and didn’t want to take lessons.</p>
<p>But now I guess he’ll finally have to learn, since he enters the University of Chicago this fall. Hopefully, once he explains during orientation week that he doesn’t know how to swim at all, they won’t force him to take the swimming test, and will just sign him up for the classes.</p>