Learning to swim aged 30: Lesson 2 - Into the open pool

My parents were none-swimmers and thus the cycle continued.

Whatever the reason, it turns out I am in a rather large minority of more than nine million people over the age of 14 in England who are in the same precarious boat.

You can read about my triumphant first lesson here.

Now it's on to session two...

Having conquered my fear of putting my face in the water, opening my eyes and exhaling I genuinely thought learning the physical skills to swimming would be plain sailing. Silly me.

My tutor Heather kicks things off by asking me to literally kick off from the side of the pool, glide on my front with my head under the surface while kicking my legs to propel me through the water. Having finished the first lesson doing this it isn't too demanding.

We repeat a few times with relative success but, on turning to head back to the sanctuary of the poolside after about the third go, Heather says we will now do the full length of the pool. Gulp. She remains in front of me in case I lose my balance but venturing out into the open pool is still a daunting prospect.

By now I have learnt not to exhale continuously but to hold my breathe for a while and then blow out. Doing this allows me to travel a bit further before coming up gasping for air. I assumed - like many beginners do I am told - that without moving my arms I wouldn't move anywhere, but my own propulsion generated by my leg kicks disproved that.

And speaking of arms that's what we are on to next. At first Heather gets me practising the correct motion while standing in the water. I am told to keep my fingers straight and my arms in a tight circle as they rotate over my head. Seems easy enough. But when asked to combine this new technique with the push, glide and kicking from before it all goes to pot slightly. Thinking about my arm movements, I forget to kick properly, and then trying to recover my legs to the surface I forget to exhale properly. The result is my lower body sinking rather pathetically while my head comes up to get the air it has been denied. So not so great. The confidence I had gained from my early promise saps a little.

Until now I failed to comprehend that probably more than any other sport swimming truly works the whole body. The legs and arms are obviously on the go, as are the lungs but as much as anything your core muscles bare the burden of keeping you afloat. I certainly wouldn't recommend attempting sit ups after a dip in the pool. Swimming also requires almost perfect symmetry of your bodily movements more so than most activities. It's harder than it sounds. I once considered myself a half-decent footballer but even then I couldn't kick straight, let alone the fact my hairdresser tells me I have something called a 'cowlick' which even makes my hair fall to one side.

But there is nothing to be done other than to keep trying, and after a few attempts my mind stops thinking about everything and my legs and arms start to function more subconsciously.

After somehow wading myself beyond a quarter of the length of the pool I mark lesson two down as another success.

• Follow my weekly progress at @CJackson_Star on Twitter.

• Anyone wishing to ask about taking lessons with Swimtime can contact the West Midlands office on 0121 3710498, email westmids@swimtime.org, or message Swimtime in West Mids on Facebook.