I tried to learn to swim at school for five years, but it always seemed an odd thing and I never trusted the water. I wasn't frightened of it as such (at least not until I was pushed in by a frustrated teacher) but I still have a problem with it intellectually. Is it atmosphere, or surface? My reaction on getting into the water has always been to curl up, to the puzzlement of those who think one should stretch out. Of course, in any swimming costume one feels dangerously exposed.