swimming requirements

I have been following the thread re. Second and First Class swimming
requirements with interest. While I heartily agree that each case must be
viewed individually, I would urge the unit not to be hasty. We have a
gentleman in our troop who is a wonderful swimming instructor. He
continually amazes me with his ability to teach boys who "can not swim" to
swim. Sometimes it takes him a number of years to do it, but he is
extremely patient, and the sense of accomplishment the boys take away from
the experience is worth all the time and effort.

Does this delay a boy's advancement? Yes, but I would argue that
advancement is the outward recognition of inward growth. It is the
personal growth that is most important. It may well be that accomplishing
something that he thought was absolutely impossible is more important for a
boy than achieving Star, Life or even (gasp) Eagle.

So don't give up. The only boy this instructor failed to get through his
requirements had Downs Syndrome, and he at least was able to cure the boy
of his fear of the water.

YiS
Michael Holmes

Michael Holmes
MHolmes@pitnet.net

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