After watching Savannah Guthrie dunk her hand into a cold tub as part of her interview with the author of Six Weeks to OMG, I was inspired to write about the benefits of swimming, especially swimming in cooler water. Why sit in a cold tub in order to lose weight, when I could actually exercise in cold water and build some gorgeous muscles as well? When I see parents on the shore or on the sidelines while their kids are swimming, I wonder how many of these adults either never learned how to swim, or learned so long ago that they are now completely out of practice. Luckily many towns offer adult swimming lessons which are subsidized with tax money. My husband and I paid less than thirty dollars each for nine, one hour swimming lessons in our town’s high school pool.  My advanced lessons were usually private or semi-private, and my husband usually had less than six other people in his introductory class. While the lessons for school-age children fill up very quickly, there are always extra slots in the adult swimming lessons. Because the swim team practices in the high school pool, the temperature is kept nice and cool, similar to the temperature recommended in the Six Weeks to OMG book. If you are fortunate enough to live in a town with a YMCA, most YMCA’s feature a separate pool for lap swimming and the swim team that is kept at a cooler temperature than the one for the water aerobics classes. YMCA’s offer memberships for as little as ten dollars per month, and usually not more than eighty dollars per month depending on your family income. After I had initially written this article out on paper, my family and I had the experience of witnessing the heroic efforts of several dozen emergency personnel who attempted to save a man who had fallen into the North Cove in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.  My daughter and her other toddler friends thought that the town was hosting another parade as we watched truck after truck pull up to side of the North Cove. Everyone at the Saturday night BBQs bordering the cove hoped and prayed that the rescue would end without a loss of life. Unfortunately, the Middletown man, age 51, who had been revived after being under the water for nearly seventy minutes was pronounced dead at Middlesex Hospital.   Parents who view swimming lessons as unnecessary me-time should consider what risks they may be taking when they play in and around water without knowing how to swim properly.  Not only are you putting your own life at risk, but also those people around you, and potentially emergency workers. One drowning is one two many, and this seems like such an avoidable accident.  I hope that more parents will consider enrolling themselves in swimming lessons.  Similar to golf or tennis, swimming becomes much more enjoyable with practice. Once you are able to swim more skillfully and quickly, you will really appreciate the feeling of sixty to eighty degree water on your skin. Don’t waste any more time soaking in a cool tub of water like my daughter and her friends if you have been following the advice of Six Weeks to OMG, sign up for an adult swim class today.