實驗證明，兒童在很小的時候就可以開始學習遊泳。在洛杉磯的一個特設的遊泳池裏，孩子們甚至在還沒有學會走路時就已經能熟練地在水下屏住呼吸了。兩個月的 嬰兒並未顯得不願意入水。他們很快便適應了遊泳，以致能撿起池底的物品。這些幼小的遊泳運動員非常喜愛的一種遊戲是水下三輪車比賽。三輪車並排放在7英尺 深的遊泳池底上。孩子們比賽看誰先到達遊泳池的另一端。很多孩子用腳蹬車，但多數孩子更願意推或是拉著三輪車。有些孩子能夠跑完遊泳池的全長而不用露出水 麵換氣。他們將來是否能成為奧林匹克的冠軍，這隻能由時間來作出回答。與此同時，他們對我們中的那些遊不了5碼就已喘不過氣來的人應該是種鼓舞。
Experiments have shown that children can start learning to swim when they are very young. In a specially-designed swimming pool of Los Angeles, children that couldn’t walk yet held their breath under water with ease. Even two-month-old infants did not appear hesitant going into the water. They got used to swimming so fast as to pick up stuff from the pool bottom. One of the young swimmers’ favorite games was underwater tricycle race. Tricycles were lined up on the 7-foot-deep swimming pool bottom. The children competed to be the first to reach the other end of the pool. Many children paddled with their feet on the tricycles, but most of them liked to push or pull them. Some children could go the whole length without breathing out of the water. Only time can tell whether they could become an Olympic Champions or not. In the meanwhile, it should be an inspiration for those of us who can’t swim more than 5 yards without being out of breath.
