你学会游泳了吗?

Rob Pace is excited to go swimming with his two kids on their upcoming vacation in Palm Beach, Fla. One problem: The 39-year-old never learned to swim.

罗布•佩斯(Rob Pace)家住纽约州东梅多(East Meadow)，在一家房地产公司担任审计员。最近他要带着两个孩子到佛罗里达州的棕榈滩(Palm Beach)度假，他很期待能跟孩子在那里游泳嬉戏，唯一的问题是：现年39岁的佩斯还从没学过游泳。

So twice a week before work, Mr. Pace sneaks out of the house for adult swim lessons at a pool in Manhattan's Financial District. After three weeks, he can now hold his breath under water and glide while kicking for about a lap. He is waiting until his vacation to surprise his kids with his new skills.

所以，不久前佩斯开始每周两次，利用上班前的时间悄悄前往曼哈顿金融区的一家游泳馆参加成人游泳课程。三周下来，他现在已经能在水下屏住呼吸、蹬着腿向前滑几步了。他想等到度假时再展示这项新本领，好给孩子们一个惊喜。

'They're going to be absolutely stunned,' says Mr. Pace, who lives in East Meadow, N.Y., and is a controller at a real-estate company.

佩斯说，“他们肯定会大吃一惊的。”

An estimated 37% of U.S. adults can't swim 24 yards, the length of a typical recreation-center pool, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults -- including those who are able to swim -- make up more than 70% of drowning deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the CDC.

据美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention，简称CDC)估计，大约有37%的成年美国人游不了24码远。24码是美国休闲中心游泳池的普遍长度。CDC的数据还显示，美国每年的溺亡者中有70%以上是成年人（包括会游泳的成年人）。

Adults may miss out on learning to swim if they come from a culture where swimming isn't widely popular, or they grow up in metropolitan areas without easy pool access. Others are simply afraid -- a fear sometimes fostered by overanxious parents or a terrifying incident early in life. Teaching late learners tends to take longer and requires different techniques than those used with children.

成年人不会游泳的原因有很多，可能是因为生长的环境不鼓励学习游泳，也可能是从小生活在游泳池较少的大都市。有些人则是纯粹出于恐惧，这种恐惧可能源于父母的溺爱，也可能是源于早年遭遇重大事故留下的阴影。与教小孩学游泳相比，教成年人学习游泳需要花费更长的时间，教授方法也有所不同。

A growing number of swim clinics are specializing in adult lessons, partlybecause learning to swim later in life can be a little embarrassing.

于是，专门针对成年人的游泳培训班应运而生，部分原因是成年人学游泳多少会有些尴尬。

Beth Davis, who operates her own swim clinic in Boulder, Colo., says the number of adults in her practice has nearly doubled in recent years, from 34 adult students in 2009 to 67 currently. Lori Pailet, a founder and director of AquaSkills, the Manhattan facility, says her adult clientele typically increases by 15% to 25% each year. Lessons there cost $100 to register and $1,200 for 10 private lessons.

贝丝•戴维斯(Beth Davis)在科罗拉多州博尔德(Boulder)开设了一个游泳培训班。戴维斯表示，到她这里参加游泳培训的成年人的人数近几年增长了将近一倍，2009年她只有34个成年学员，现在已经达到67个。曼哈顿游泳学校AquaSkills的创始人兼校长洛瑞•帕里特(Lori Pailet)称，在她这里，成年学员每年一般会递增15%-25%。参加AquaSkills的游泳培训需要支付注册费100美元，选择10节私教课程的费用是1200美元。

Mr. Pace, who is taking lessons at AquaSkills, says his parents never knew how to swim and raised him in New York City, where he didn't have easy access to a pool. 'Most of my friends at the time didn't know how to swim, so it didn't seem like a big deal,' he says.

佩斯就在AquaSkills学游泳。他表示，他的父母一直不会游泳，他是在纽约市长大的，那里很难找到一家游泳馆。而且，他说，“那时候，我身边大多数朋友都不会游泳，因此不会游泳好像也无所谓。”

Joseph Riggio, who lives in Brooklyn, also signed up for swim lessons at AquaSkills, where his biggest hurdle has been overcoming an intense fear of the water. He says his father believed the best way to protect his son was to make him afraid of the water. Mr. Riggio recalls a trip to Coney Island when he was about 7 years old in which his father pushed him under the water repeatedly.

家住布鲁克林的约瑟夫•里焦(Joseph Riggio)在曼哈顿经营着一家名为“New York Pizza Suprema”的餐馆，他也报名参加了AquaSkills的游泳课，而他面对的最大挑战是要克服自己对水的强烈恐惧。里焦说他这么怕水是因为在他小时候，他父亲觉得让他怕水是保护他的最好方式。里焦还记得自己七岁到康尼岛(Coney Island)旅游时，父亲曾不停地将他按到水里。

'After he threw me into the water the third time, I stayed down, and then he pulled me up. I was choking and coughing up water,' says Mr. Riggio, owner of New York Pizza Suprema, a restaurant in Manhattan.

里焦回忆道，“他第三次把我扔进水里后，我开始下沉，然后他又把我拽上来。我差点窒息，还呛到了水。”

From then on, learning to swim became a problem for Mr. Riggio. He tried taking lessons as both a child and adult but couldn't overcome his phobia.

从那以后，学游泳就成了里焦的一个难题。他小时候和长大后都试着参加过游泳培训，但总是无法克服对水的恐惧。

To ease Mr. Riggio's fear, Ms. Pailet spent the first few lessons simply talking and walking through the water with him.

为了帮助里焦克服紧张情绪，帕里特在头几次上课时主要带里焦绕着游泳池，边散步边聊天。

'She asked about my family and children and teased me about my pizza business as we did exercises,' he says.

里焦说，“在游泳训练时，帕里特会问问我的家庭和孩子的情况，还会拿我的匹萨店生意开开玩笑。”

Mr. Riggio had to unlearn all of his poor habits and commit proper technique to muscle memory. Now, he can do the arms, legs and breathing motions separately but has trouble syncing it all up. When he tries, often he just ends up splashing.

要学会游泳，里焦必须改掉所有坏毛病，将正确的游泳姿势化为下意识的动作。现在，单独做手部、腿部动作或者呼吸换气他都没有问题，但要配合起来还很难。一旦要手脚配合起来游，他常常就只能在原地扑腾了。

'Yes, it's embarrassing, but I'm going to be more embarrassed if I'm not a good swimmer but my children are,' Mr. Riggio says.

里焦说，“这可真尴尬，但如果我游得连孩子们也不如，那会更口。”

The process of learning to swim can be slow and frustrating for adults who, unlike children, are 'very results focused,' says John Fitzpatrick, owner and head coach of a swim facility, Chicago Blue Dolphins.

芝加哥蓝海豚游泳馆(Chicago Blue Dolphins)的老板兼首席教练约翰•菲茨帕特里克(John Fitzpatrick)表示，与小孩不同的是，成年人学游泳的过程可能很慢，有时会令人很是沮丧，因为成年人非常“看重结果”。

Mr. Fitzpatrick first teaches adults how to float and glide by kicking off the side of the pool. 'These activities -- while fundamental and critical to them being successful -- do not seem to them like they're swimming,' he says. As a result, the adults tend to get frustrated with their seemingly slow progress.

菲茨帕特里克一般先教成年人如何漂浮和蹬边滑行。他说，“这些动作是学好游泳的基本功，很关键，但成年学员认为这根本不算游泳。”结果，他们很容易对自己貌似缓慢的学习进度感到沮丧。

In Manhattan, Ms. Pailet says one client wanted to skip the breathing and buoyancy basics and just 'get it over with.' At one point, she says, he became so frustrated, he began smacking the water with a foam noodle.

曼哈顿的帕里特表示，有个学员想跳过基本的呼吸换气和漂浮练习，迫不及待地想一口气学完了事。结果，他一度泄气得不行，拿个浮水条不停地击打水面。

While learning the techniques are important, Ms. Davis, the Boulder instructor, also teaches adults how to play. 'Children don't need to be taught how to play, but adults are different creatures,' she says. 'They don't know how to respond to the water. It's this strange murky thing.'

虽然学会游泳技巧很重要，但博尔德的戴维斯也很注意教导成年学员如何享受玩水的乐趣。她说，“孩子们不用教就会玩，但成年人不同，他们不知道该如何面对水这种神秘莫测的东西。”

In a game called 'bottom to bottom,' students jump up in the water, then let themselves fall bottom-first to the floor of the pool. Sometimes in group lessons she will have adults compete in relays or swim in pairs, with one person doing the arm stroke while the other grips his partner's ankles and kicks. Ms. Davis calls her methods 'functional play.'

在一个名叫“底对底”(bottom to bottom)的游戏中，戴维斯让学员在水中跳起，然后以臀部下坐的姿势落向池底。有时候，在有多人参加的成人培训班上，戴维斯还会让学员分组竞技或者结对训练，例如，一个人在练习手臂划水动作时，同伴抓住其脚踝并踢腿。戴维斯把她的这种训练方法称为“功能游戏”(functional play)。

'Adults work all day. I don't want them to view swimming in the same light,' she says.

她说，“成年人整天都要工作，我不希望他们到这里来游泳也像工作一样累。”

Frank Papania, who lives in Bellmore, N.Y., signed up one week after his co-worker, Mr. Pace. Now the two, who have been friends for 17 years, take lessons together.

家住纽约州贝尔摩(Bellmore)的弗兰克•帕帕尼亚(Frank Papania)和佩斯是同事，更是相识了17年的老朋友。帕帕尼亚比佩斯晚一周也在AquaSkills报了名，现在，两人一起上游泳课。

'We encourage each other more than anything else, but we will give helpful hints when we can,' says Mr. Papania, 40. 'We'll say things like, 'Hey, straighten your legs.' '

现年40岁的帕帕尼亚说，“我们一直相互鼓劲，有时候还能给对方一点有用的提示，比如会告诉对方‘把腿伸直’。”

The goal is to achieve 'water competency,' defined by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council as being able to enter and exit the water, turn 360 degrees afloat, tread or float for one minute and move through the water for at least 25 yards.

游泳训练的目的是要提高“水性”。根据美国红十字会科学顾问委员会(American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council)的定义，良好的水性是指能够自由出入水中、在水中360度转向、踩水或在水面持续漂浮一分钟，以及能够在水中游动至少25码的距离。

Jess White, who grew up landlocked in Kansas and now lives in Boulder, says she never felt confident in the water. In 2010, she signed up for lessons with Ms. Davis to become more comfortable and ultimately compete in triathlons.

杰西•怀特(Jess White)在堪萨斯州内陆地区长大，现在住在博尔德市。她说她以前下水总是战战兢兢的。2010年，她报名参加了戴维斯的培训课程，慢慢变得自信起来，甚至还参加了铁人三项全能比赛。

Learning to swim took longer than she thought, about five months. She didn't tell many people at first, hesitant to admit 'learning what seems like a childlike skill as an adult.' But her efforts show. Last summer, she swam 500 meters in a triathlon and plans to swim 1,500 meters in one this month. Ms. White, 27, is still taking lessons to refine her stroke.

怀特学了大约五个月，原来她根本没想到自己学游泳要用那么长时间。一开始她没有到处张扬，因为不愿承认自己在学一个“小孩子都会的技能”。但她的努力得到了回报。去年夏天，她参加了一个铁人三项赛，完成了500米距离的游泳。这个月她还准备参加一项1500米距离的游泳比赛。27岁的怀特至今仍在继续接受培训，以进一步提高自己的游泳技能。

'Pretty much everybody knows now,' she says. 'It became a point of pride for me when I could say, 'Look at me, I can swim.' '

怀特说，“现在大家基本都知道我会游泳了。能够充满信心地展示自己的水性，已经成为让我很自豪的一件事。”