Man learns to swim at 83 years old

An 83-year-old man has been learning to swim after his wife wanted to go to on holiday abroad.

Former paratrooper John Potter, from Teesside, said his swimming teacher in Middlesbrough made the lessons "very easy" for him.

He said his ultimate goal, a 14-day holiday to the Canary Islands, was "the best thing he ever did".

Mr Potter has since been awarded his swim school's swimmer of the year prize with his instructors saying it was never too late to learn.

At the beginning of 2023, Mr Potter said his wife told him about a holiday club in Lanzarote she wanted to visit.

He wanted to take her but he could not swim.

Mr Potter said he picked up the yellow pages and found swimming lessons on offer at Borocuda Swim School.

Mr Potter said he explained to his teacher that he was a former paratrooper and therefore had experienced some training involving water.

That included jumping in at the deep end of his military swimming baths and four jumps from a plane into the sea at Lyme Regis, where RAF Air-Sea Rescue picked him up.

Mr Potter said he was too busy doing other things to learn how to swim.

"Why I didn't do it earlier, I just don't know", he said.

Borocuda head coach Dan Firbank said Mr Potter was a "very good student".

They started practising floating using buoyancy aids before mastering a swimming technique.

By the fourth lesson, Mr Potter was able to swim the length of the pool using breaststroke.

Mr Potter said the only issue was his breathing, which he had struggled with following a cancer diagnosis in 2020.

A number of older people inquired about lessons but people do not usually follow through, Mr Firbank said.

He said learning to swim is usually on people's bucket lists but that it is much rarer to see older people coming in to learn.

Borocuda owner James Trethowan said swimming is "such an important skill".

"If you're 83 years old, don't think it's too late", he said, adding: "It's never too late, give it a go."

Mr Potter said he enjoyed swimming during the first seven days of his trip abroad, but he unfortunately suffered an accident that cut his holiday short.

"I fell down some stone steps and fractured my skull and cut my head open and smashed my right shoulder up", he said.

He spent some time in a hospital in Lanzarote until he was well enough to travel home.

Mr Potter has since gone back to Borocuda Swim School to brush up on his swimming skills after his shoulder surgery.

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