Water over my head
No, it is not a comment about a flood; nor the Chinese water torture.
I am going back to my very early teens when I was a Scottish national champion coxswain with Stirling Rowing Club. Now this may come as a surprise but I did not and do not swim. If a cat has nine lives then I know I have at least four.
At a regatta on the River Clyde at Glasgow Green, the crew was rowing down to the beginning of the race; suddenly, one of the riggers broke and all of us were tossed into the murky waters. Luckily for me, the stroke was able to dive down and rescue me. That was enough for one day. It was not amusing at the time but a cartoon appeared in the next day’s paper. Think a very miniature Titanic; sinking bow first.
Another year, we were rowing on the Firth of Clyde on a day when the waters were very rough. We were supposed to have a splashboard on our boat but, for reasons,unknown, this was not done. Within minutes of the start of the race our boat began to take on water and slowly sink. The waves were almost up to my neck when my oldest brother who was the stroke of the crew told me to grab hold of him. Before it was all over, I was under the water again; rescued by my brother who threw me into another boat that had come to our aid. This episode made the BBC radio news.
Now we jump ahead many many years. I had decided to learn to swim. Yeah, you think it is about time? Well, I was doing reasonably well but not all that well. Dumb me, I mis-understood what the instructor was telling me and the next thing, I am heading to the bottom of the pool. The instructor had to dive in after me. This, of course, did not make the news but was my last time for swimming.
During my years as a coxswain I was on the water in the summer time every week night with different crews from about six in the evening until nine; as well as Saturday afternoons. Also, that was rain or shine. Apart from the almost disasters, I have many fond memories of the years with the club.
