Is this normal practice for beginner swimming classes?

[HH30]

Hello,

I previously took a beginner swimming class at Nuffield swimming pool and the male instructor started us in the swimming pool as usual but on this one day, when I was wearing my bikini, which is quite revealing and in hind sight maybe not the best for a swimming class, but I wanted to try wearing it, instead of my usual one piece (so I was already feeling a little shy) he asked us (3 women and 1 man) to get out of the pool for a practice drill.

I was a bit uncomfortable that he asked us to get out at this point, but thought it might be normal. He then proceeded to instruct us to hold our arms at our side and move our shoulders from side to side. This made me feel really uncomfortable, because at this point other people were looking at us (guys who were in the pool incidentally) and he then singled me out and made me do it, while those guys were watching.

Initially, I thought it was strange, because he had not asked us to get out of the water in other lessons. I then thought that maybe it was me feeling embarrassed and shy, but since then I've thought more about it and done some searches on the internet and I can't find this kind of practice in usual beginner swimming guides. This is still really bothering me albeit a few months later.

This seems to be a strange kind of practice to do after a few days of lessons and mid-way through a lesson when we've already been in the pool.

Please can you help me understand whether or not this is a normal swimming practice technique for beginners and if this is normally done out of the pool in this way. If not, then perhaps I am right in feeling violated.

Maybe people who have taken this class, or similar classes could help by letting me know whether they had this kind of practice session in their lessons and if it made them feel uncomfortable, or if they felt it was a normal swimming thing.

Thanks for your help,
HH30

Hello.

i was wearing my bikini, which was quite revealing and in hind sight may not be best for a swimming lesson

I think that's the reason you felt self conscious.

Next time I would recommend wearing a proper costume. I would keep bikinis for the beach.

As for the excersise of moving shoulders from side to side. Were you practising rolling to breathe for front crawl once back in the water? That's not a beginner excersise. Maybe he was trying to get you practise using your core strength?

Maybe he just wanted to see your boobs jiggle around? Pls wear a costume!

Anyway, as you say, it was a while back. Next time you sign up for lessons, why don't you ask the teacher the point of an excersise if you are not sure?

hTH

Think you AIBU about this. Wearing a revealing (by your own admission) bikini for a swimming lesson was possibly a mistake which made you feel very self-consious and this impacted on the rest of the lesson. Would you have felt similarly about events had you been much more covered up in sensible bathers?

I would say that what your swim instructor asked you to do on the side of the pool was some type of exercise (to assist in your swimming technique) that sounds entirely reasonable and not anything untoward.

And given that most adult women don't tend to wear bikinis in swimming pools (when they're not on holiday in warmer climes), unless they're in their own homes and therefore safe from prying eyes, perhaps it's not suprising that you received some attention from onlookers?

Sorry that you feel like this though, but possibly time to put it behind you? That it happened several months ago and that you're still thinking about it seems somewhat like ruminating.

Hi HH30,
I'm surprised at the way some of the reactions above have been expressed. I think given what you've said there probably was nothing untoward with what the instructor did. But I'm sorry you felt so uncomfortable, and you've got a right to wear whatever you want to wear. The only thing I can suggest is you talk to Nuffield about it to set your mind at rest that this is a normal exercise.
Did you go back to the lessons the next week? Hope it didn't put you off!