Swimming – David Wilkie

Sports commentator: “…and it’s a new world record for David Wilkie, what a swim!”
David Wilkie: I was lucky. I learned to swim when I was 3 years old, so by the time I won that gold medal at the Montreal Olympics, I’d been swimming for nearly twenty years. But some kids never manage to learn, and they just grow up thinking that they can’t swim. Josephine, why did you learn to swim?
Josephine: Well I felt I had to really, everybody else was swimming and I wanted to.
David Wilkie: Phillip, why did you start swimming?
Phillip: Because it was important and it could save your life one time if you fell in the river or something.
David Wilkie: Were you not scared of the water to start with?
Boy: Yes, I was.
David Wilkie: And how did you overcome that fear?
Boy: Well I just had to pluck courage up.
Phillip: Well there’s nothing to fear because the water, it’s just normal and once you get in there you feel great.
David Wilkie: And if you had a friend that couldn’t swim, how would you tell him to go about learning to swim?
Phillip: Go to a ‘learn to swim class’
Josephine: It could save their life sometime.
David Wilkie: Not being able to swim often means miss out on a lot of fun with your friends so if you’d like to learn but you think it’s too late, or you think you’re just one of those people who’ll never learn, go along to your local swimming baths and ask about lessons. They’ll teach you quickly and safely, and even though you don’t make the next Olympics, you’ll have a lot of fun.
Boy: It’s great fun, you know, to be able to swim.