I am thrilled to share with you the fact that I addressed a long-standing fear this summer and learned how to swim.
Yep, you heard it right. Regina Mobley, the fixture in local television for 18 years, mother of two, and the woman who shot two holes-in-one in 24 hours, could not even float with ease until a few months ago.
Craig Cairo, my fiance had been prodding me for years saying "It's no excuse, you live in an area surrounded by water, and there is no good reason why you cannot swim".
Craig and I play golf every weekend. But after being diagnosed with a herniated disk in June, I decided to take up an offer from Leslie Paul who offered to teach me to swim.
Leslie is the founder of an outreach program aimed at teaching minority children how to swim. It is her answer to the sad statistics that show black children are 3-4 times more likely that white children to die from drowning.
It took a great deal of courage for me to shed my anchor persona, put on a swimsuit and try a skill that many children can perform with ease.
But I put my pride aside, and invited our cameras to follow along this summer as I took on what was a difficult task. I hope that by sharing my journey, other adults who are non-swimmers will be encouraged take swimming lessons.
Swimming is a great form of recreation and exercise, but can also mean the difference between life and death.
I hope you watch my story I CAN SWIM Wednesday November 14th at 11pm on WVEC.
If I can learn to swim, so can you!
Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!Give yourself a huge pat on the back!
Congratulations!! You Rock!!
Woohoo Debby
Leslie is a great teacher. We know from experience. Congratulations, Regina.
Congratulations Regina! Once Leslie sets her mind to something - there's no stopping her!! There was never a doubt in my mind you would learn to swim.
Congratulations Regina! You learned from the best(Leslie), and our hope is that you educate others to improve their swimming skills. Most importantly, our youth in Hampton Roads. I applaud your courage in going public on this, and Leslie is the most supportive teacher for this.
Regina, what an inspiration you are to those of us who don't swim!
When I heard you say how embarrassed you were, I totally understood how you must have felt. I have to get this done, too!
And the word "fear", well, I know that one as well. As a child I was assured that I would learn how to swim by the time I left diabetes summer camp (in NY state) and I was so excited. I was devastated when 2 young men told me to go ahead and jump in and to the bottom of the lake I went and they weren't very close. I panicked and well, it's hard to trust anyone after something like that. What a blessing for you to have a good instructor. I hear from others that she is a gem!
Thank you for sharing!
Jane Dohrmann, Norfolk
I am glad that you learned how to swim. Although you are 46, it's better late than never. Your story reminded me about what happened to a reporteer in Florida. About nine years ago, a 23 year old news reporter was on a boat. She fell off and drowned because she didn't know how to swim. Not only that, she took off her life jacket before she fell. And like you, she was engaged at the time. I am so happy you learned how to swim before it got to that point.