Monday morning, 19 June . . . . Water Safety Training.
This morning we got an early start and an MRE breakfast. Uniform was ACU shirt & trousers, sports shoes and camp t-shirt. We had to bring a towel, a plastic trash bag and a set of dry clothes.
Off to the Grafenwöhr City Waldbad . . . we had a 0700 appointment with the water!! FYI, the pool is heated.
At the pool, swimmers at the deep end, non-swimmers at the shallow end. We learned to cope with water over our heads . . . what to do with the clothes . . . how to take them off and use them for buoyancy . . . and how not to panic. At the deep end, the camp commandant put us through some exercises to help us realize our own strengths. At the shallow end, the non-swimmers learned to trust their abilities while wearing a life jacket.
Finally, we got to the tower. Five meters above us, the camp commander challenged us all to come to his position on the tower and to jump in the water. There is a way to do it and a way not to do it; arms in, plug the nose, look at the horizon and step out. Confidence required.
Most of us scrambled to climb the ladder. Once on top, all of us realized it looks a lot higher from the top then it does from the bottom.
Some of us hesitated, but in the end, we all did it. 100%!
Take a look at these photos that chronicle what we did this morning. (They are in no particular order.)
Off to the Grafenwöhr City Waldbad . . . we had a 0700 appointment with the water!! FYI, the pool is heated.
At the pool, swimmers at the deep end, non-swimmers at the shallow end. We learned to cope with water over our heads . . . what to do with the clothes . . . how to take them off and use them for buoyancy . . . and how not to panic. At the deep end, the camp commandant put us through some exercises to help us realize our own strengths. At the shallow end, the non-swimmers learned to trust their abilities while wearing a life jacket.
Finally, we got to the tower. Five meters above us, the camp commander challenged us all to come to his position on the tower and to jump in the water. There is a way to do it and a way not to do it; arms in, plug the nose, look at the horizon and step out. Confidence required.
Most of us scrambled to climb the ladder. Once on top, all of us realized it looks a lot higher from the top then it does from the bottom.
Some of us hesitated, but in the end, we all did it. 100%!
Take a look at these photos that chronicle what we did this morning. (They are in no particular order.)