holder in backstroke, and earned more than twenty medals including the United Nations Medal of Honor for Civil Courage.Butterfly is a notoriously difficult and exhausting stroke that requires the swimmer to use the dolphin kick while moving their arms in a windmill-like motion, in unison. It was one that I was fairly certain my body would never be coordinated enough to attempt.
The demonstration was meant to inspire us, but I blinked and felt nothing except despair because I knew I could never swim like her. She seemed twice as tall as me, was in incredible shape, and it would be an understatement to say that I was not an athlete. I mentioned to Markus that I had seen Dara swim, and he told me they were friends. Then he looked directly at me and said, “You are going to have a lesson now.” He was smiling, but it didn’t feel like an invitation.
I hesitated, full of self-doubt, but then looked around and realized there were only eight other people at the pool, including his wife and two young children. It was unlikely that anyone was paying attention and I felt confident that he wouldn't let me drown. Further, there were only 10 minutes left in my swim hour, so my humiliation would be brief.
Markus then showed me his fly stroke, swimming across the shorter width of the pool and quickly reaching the other side. After this demonstration, it was my turn. I had never tried butterfly before, and I expected the timing of moving all my body parts to be awkward and challenging. I listened to his suggestions, however, and surprised myself with a decent effort. Even though I was hardly a natural, I had not been as clumsy with the stroke as I’d anticipated.
Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)