Doc, I'm sure you're getting your mind right by now, but I thought I would offer up one more suggestion. Get comfortable swimming, then find a YMCA with a well run basic lifesaving course. Make sure you check out the program first, because they're all run a little differently. Some are pretty lame on the physical conditioning side. The course that I took prior to enlisting was run by a retired Navy spec ops guy (I never had the nads to ask what he did or was assigned to, he would've made me tread water for 30 minutes just for looking at him). We swam our tails off. They're typically 8week classes 3 nights/week for 2 hrs. Each of our classes started by arriving early and treading water... started with 10 minutes, by the 6th week rolled around we had to tread for 30. We would then swim every conceavable lifesaving stroke up and down each lane of the 12 lane olympic sized pool, before being "taught" anything. Besides the conditioning, you're going to get the basic stuff you need to help someone, or even yourself if the situation arises. You'll also get to do some survival swimming with clothes and shoes on. Personally, I did it so that I could lifeguard (and reap all of the perceived benefits
), but later realized that the course very much prepared me for any swimming I ever did while I was in.