Somewhere just outside Rome. Image by Piotr Sell

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When people first discover that I founded Black Girl Swim Club, most assume I teach swimming lessons. I don’t. I’m not a confident swimmer at all, I need the lessons!

I haven’t been “swimming” nearly as often as I’ve been wanting to (life…) but now that I’m approaching 31 and reimagining how I can more sustainably deliver my mission of encouraging black women to learn to swim and take up more space in nature (myself included), I decided I’d better learn to swim!

Today I started a 4-day intensive swimming course with Omie Dale’s swim school. I became aware of her lessons around the time I started BGSC and I’ve been wanting to try them out ever since. I’ll be updating this post after each session, so I can recall my experiences while they’re still fresh:

Day 1 - 18/08/2025

I was super excited when I booked this course last week, but I have to admit that I was nervous last night–I get weird dreams and sleep paralysis the night before nerve-racking things. I have a shoot coming up with a TV broadcaster where I’ll be sharing what swimming means to me and about BGSC–exciting, right?! Yes, but also nerve-racking because I’m not yet confident with swimming, never mind doing it on camera. I get opportunities coming my way that sometimes involve swimming on camera and this is another reason why I want to improve.

The lessons are in the morning and quite close to me, which I’m glad about; it’s a nice way to start the day. When I arrived to the changing room, cutting it fine with time, I was glad to see it filled with other black women. It felt like home, like the lessons I was hosting with B.O.S.S (Black Owned Swimming School) at the start of the BGSC journey. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if there were different faces, we’re all in the same, well, similar boats, but there is a comfort to doing this surrounded by people who look like me. I posted a video a few years back, briefly speaking about how I felt more at ease swimming with the girls in my club than I do at public pools or the sea, with my boyfriend. It could be that they were also black and women, but it could also have been the private pool setting. Either way, it’s that I don’t have to worry about feeling embarrassed, worrying that the other competent swimmers at the pool may be judging me.

All that to say, I did feel a bit embarrassed at today’s first lesson. On the sign-up form for this course, there was space to explain my experience and I was honest that I’m not confident with breathing technique in the water: I just stand up when it’s time to breathe out of my mouth, because I’m terrified of doing it wrong and breathing water in through my nose. Not ideal since breathing technique is a major part of swimming!

We all started by ‘showing where we’re at’, so they could split us between the two teachers–this is a beginner course, but there are levels. We went in groups of threes, showing our front crawls, then backstrokes, meeting one of the teachers at a quarter-way point in the water. I did my front crawl, holding my breath longer than I should, as I normally do, then I stood up because me and breathing aren’t tight yet. Then I waited as the other girls performed their backstrokes. At this point, my feet were just about touching the floor (it gets deep quickly in this pool), I was swaying and basically sh*tting it. It was my turn again and before I hopped onto my back, I hesitated with a few breaths, aware that I was being assessed. I did one or two back strokes, then frantically stood up because I got worried my head would go too far back and I’d start breathing in water. I waded the rest of the way back to the main group.

Once placed in our smaller groups, relieved that the show was over, I was ready to get going, learning. It was me and two other women in our intimate beginner group, which I liked. We worked our way through different techniques, starting with kicking and breathwork. I’ve never felt like a strong kicker and I always thought my weak core was holding me back, but I discovered that in front crawl, I’m not putting my face in the water enough and keeping my body horizontal. Throughout, I struggled with timing and coordinating when to stop breathing out of my nose and in through my mouth. I hope by the end of the course I can nail this!

Towards the end of the lesson, we moved to the deeper end, practising letting go of the ledge, dropping down and floating back up. Finally, we each finished with a big star jump into the deeper end and a front crawl out of the pool. SCARY!! But I’m really glad I did it.

The lesson moved quickly, which, on one hand, is good because it helped me bypass moments where I started overthinking; on the other hand, I think I would like to try 1-1 lessons for more dedicated time. I also need to practise outside the lessons, which I’m looking forward to.

Day 2 - 19/08/2025

I forgot my flip-flops and cream today F***CCKKK! Also, the back of my hair got quite wet yesterday, so this time I bobby pinned my braids around my head so they could fit under my swimming cap more evenly instead of being bunched up at the back. They still got a bit wet, but not soaked like the day before.

Feeling a lot calmer and slightly more social, I arrived earlier and sat in on the end of the swimming lessons before mine. In my small beginner group, an older South Asian(?) woman joined. I’m aware that a lot of women from that community also don’t swim much, either, so it was sweet!

The water was noticeably colder than yesterday, but the ‘peer pressure’ of it being a group swimming lesson and everybody else just getting in, forced me to get on with it. Otherwise, I usually get into the water painfully slow because I hate being cold!

We warmed up by running & hopping through the water; only one of the girls was racing ahead, the rest of us were scared of slipping. Laughing and chatting with the girls and our teacher between drills made this lesson feel more lighthearted and helped me feel more at ease.

During a new exercise, flipping from our fronts to our backs and vice versa, while gliding forward, I inhaled quite a bit of water. Not ideal! But it didn’t put me off–I was eager to keep going.

Overall, I still struggled to coordinate keeping my body straight while lifting my head at just the right angle to breathe in through my mouth–timing that with my arms, while remembering to keep kicking on the water. The teacher likened kicking to an engine and explained that it’s our kick that moves us forward, not our arms. It’s been a challenge getting my neurons to fire together, but I’m enjoying the journey!

Day 3 - 20/08/2025

Today was so much better! Can I swim a full length with perfect breathing technique? No, but I woke up with more vim and I’m proud of my progress!

Another girl joined our small group, so we’re up two from three—busy! But it’s all good. We focused on arm and shoulder technique, smooth backstroke and front crawl drills. More flipping as well, I’m much better at flipping onto my front than my back, though.

Because I was in a calmer state, I felt I managed to slow down and focus on coordinating each movement better than the previous days. I was way more conscious about straightening my body and keeping that engine going. My next focus will be my head and keeping it level, with more subtle movements during strokes so I don’t breathe in any more water!

Black women standing in front of changing room mirror taking a selfie in a blue swimming costume and Burgundy swim cap holding goggles — I remembered my flip flops this time! Photo by Marsha Nsiah

Day 4 - 21/08/2025

So the secret to keeping your hair fully dry under your swim cap is to pull it past the nape of your neck, noted! Over the previous three days, I’d been fiddling with my swim cap between drills because it felt too tight over my ears, pressing on my braids. I also needed to hear the teacher’s instructions. This time, I made sure my braids were higher on my head, so my cap could fit smoothly over my ears.

For the first half of this final lesson, it was just me and one other person from our group; someone else turned up later, but it was great having more space and time! It’s almost like a 1-1 lesson for the price of a group lesson.

Our teacher told us that she wanted to cover breaststroke with us, but she didn’t feel we were confident enough with front crawl and backstroke yet. She’s right, but I really wanted to try. Breaststroke is the one I see most people doing at pools and the beach, if they’re not doing intense laps back and forth. We split the lesson 50/50 between front crawl and backstroke.

I know what I need to work on, so I’ll be practising in my own time and trying out different pools to find my faves. The plan with Black Girl Swim Club was always to have social swims and loads of you said you were interested, so I’ll be sharing which pools I’ll be at for those of you who want to practice together, or just yap!