Deep Water - Notes

 Deep Water

Short Answer Type Questions (2 Marks)

1. Why did William Douglas use the YMCA pool and not the Yakima river to learn swimming? (Comptt. Delhi 2013)
Answer: Douglas used the YMCA pool and not the Yakima river to learn to swim because the river was treacherous. His mother continually warned him against it and kept the details of each drowning in the river fresh in his mind. On the other hand, the YMCA pool was safe, only two or three feet deep at the shallow end and the slope to the deep end was gradual.

2. How did the incident at the YMCA pool affect Douglas? (All India 2009)
Answer: Douglas, a ten-year-old boy, was standing alone at the YMCA pool when a big bully of a boy picked him up and tossed him into the deep end and at once he was at the bottom of the pool. Though he did manage to come up with extreme difficulty, he could never again go back to the pool. He started fearing and avoiding water. Whenever he went near water a haunting terror would seize him.

3. Why was Douglas keen to overcome his fear of water? (All India 2009)
Answer: Long after his misadventure in the pool, Douglas wanted to get into the waters of the Cascades but the old fear overpowered him. His legs would become paralysed and icy terror would grab his heart. He could not enjoy canoeing, boating and swimming. He tried to get rid of this fear yet it held him in its firm grip. So he decided to get over his fear of water by engaging an instructor.

4. How did Douglas finally get rid of the fear he had of water? (Delhi 2009)
Answer: The terror that seized Douglas because of his misadventure with water twice was so intense that he sought professional help to overcome this fear. He engaged a swimming instructor who gave him intensive training for six months to ensure he overcame his fear of water which he eventually did.

5. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror? (All India 2013)
Answer: Douglas went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire to test whether he still had any fear of water. After his vigorous swimming practice, he was still not very sure if his terror for water had left him. So he wanted to try out his swimming skills at Lake Wentworth. He dived into the lake and only after swimming across the shore and back did he feel certain his terror of water had fled.

To remove his residual doubts about his fear of water, Douglas went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Creek Trail to Meade Glacier. He camped in the high meadow by the side of the warm lake. There he dove into the warm lake, and swam across to the other shore and back just as Doug Corpron used to do.

6. What did Douglas learn from his experience at the YMCA pool? (Comptt. Delhi 2011)
Answer: His experience of drowning at the YMCA pool had a very deep impact on Douglas. He had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce. So his will to live grew in intensity. He learnt slowly to become a swimmer brushing aside his fear gradually.

Long Answer Type Questions

7. “There was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.” When did Douglas start fearing water? Which experience had further strengthened its hold on his mind and personality? (All India 2010)
Answer: As a child of three or four years, Douglas had been knocked down by the waves at California beach. The waves swept over him and he was buried under them. The overpowering force of water terrorised him and he developed an aversion for water.

This aversion to water resurfaced once again when Douglas was eleven years old and further strengthened its hold on his mind and personality. An eighteen years old boy tossed little Douglas into the deep end of the pool. This downward journey into the water for the second time was a nightmarish experience. His legs were almost paralysed, his lungs ached, his head throbbed and he felt suffocated. Keeping his wits intact, he pushed himself up to the surface of the swimming pool but all his efforts proved futile. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on him and he shook and trembled with fright. He could not move his arms and legs. He tried to call for help but nothing happened. Finally, he ceased all his efforts and decided to relax as blackness swept over his brain. Later, when he came to his senses, he was lying on his stomach beside the pool. Now the haunting fear of water gripped his heart and he continued to be mortally scared of water

8. How did the instructor make Douglas a good swimmer? (All India 2011)
Answer: The instructor put in serious efforts to ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas. He understood Douglas’ mortal water-phobia and practised five days a week, an hour each day, with him. He devised a unique way to teach him how to swim. He attached a rope to Douglas’ belt that went through a pulley which ran over an overhead cable. Holding the end of the rope in his hand, he made Douglas move back and forth in the pool without causing him much fear. Douglas was taught how to exhale under water and raise his nose to inhale.

This exercise was repeated numerous times and they went to and fro across the pool week after week. The instructor then taught Douglas to kick with his legs. At first, his legs would not work but finally, he could control and command them. Eventually, he was transformed into quite a perfect swimmer by his instructor.