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Parwich artist Esther Tyson is working on a project to immortalise the seahorses of Dorset in art – but first of all, she has to learn to dive and swim under deep water. Esther’s project diary continues below…

6 days later.

There’s a big grin on my face right now, but I’m already starting at the end of my story and that won’t do.

Damon was Lou’s buddy tonight and my instructor for the evening. We talked about my experience of the dives to date, a brief history of my progress in swimming underwater and the forewarned mask problem. Why am I doing this? Work? Recreation? To overcome fear? Yes, overcome FEAR sounds about right!

Togged up and in the pool, we talked a little more and then began this evening’s training. It’s a “back to basics”, to see how I react to the water. I have extra weight to help me kneel on the bottom when the time comes, but first it’s close to the surface. Hold your breath and go under. Not very well – but so far, no inhaled water.

This way. Next try this: reg in, hold your nose, go under and let go, breathe out of your nose… all without the mask and all to gauge my reactions.

There’s a technique of putting your BCD on. Fill the BCD with air and float it in front of you with the tank facing away, loosen the arm straps, then jump up and twist sideways, so that you are sitting on your BCD with the bottom of the tank between your legs. You then place your arms through the arm straps, slide off the tank and allow the water to lift the BCD into position on your back like a rucksack.

Now it’s my turn. I follow the demonstration and I’m sitting on my BCD/tank… under the water! I clumsily resurface, arms flailing. A cunning ploy to see how I react when I go under; no doubt that was the intention all along! In answer, it’s clumsy. I keep most of the water out of my face and surface. Once rebalanced, I smile to myself. “The audacity of the fellow!”

“Mask on, and half fill it with water.” I get a little in, but it’s very messy. Damon regroups and starts me off, like he does with the kids. (I’m back to being spoon fed again…)

“Tip your head to the side, let water in, get the feel of the water being in the mask – then tip your head the opposite way, hold it there, and back again.” As the water passes my nose, I don’t like it – but I deal with it. We worked on that.

I’m back to no mask and underwater, breathing out through my nose and in through my mouth, getting the feel of water around my nose.

“Put the mask on and let water in”. Progress, but slow!

Now confident I can be underwater breathing without my mask, it’s decided we will go for a swim without the mask. I’m holding Lou’s hand for guidance; she will squeeze it and I will mirror. We swim a circuit of the pool and come up. It went well. Lou was so busy watching me, that she forgot the hand squeezes. I don’t complain! There were two points where I stopped finning; possibly something going was on in my head, which may have been when I tried breathing out with my reg, rather than with my nose.

We are to repeat – this time with the hand squeezes – and at the end I’m to kneel, put on my mask and clear it.

We circuit the pool. I kneel and attempt to put my mask on. I get a bit nervy and swallow drawing water up my nose and into my throat, and I have to surface spluttering. When the mask is in front of my face, I get nervy and I keep swallowing and spluttering.

We go back to no mask / replace the mask / clear the mask. I begin to calm down and before long I am removing the mask – blowing out of my nose in the process helps – then replacing and clearing the mask. It’s not pretty the first couple of times, but I get the gist and before long I am taking the mask off, putting the mask on and clearing the mask. Wow.

We repeat, then head for deeper water.

I drop my mask en route. I have to retrieve it and then replace it… the list goes on. I vacate my brain. “I’m sorry, could you say all that again? I didn’t register a word after ‘get your mask, put it on and come back up’.” We stick to the first part. I retrieve the mask and kneel on the bottom; I feel around the edge and it’s upside down. I turn it the right way up, replace it, clear it, then come back up to the surface.

Wow!

Next, I have to let the air out of the BCD and fill it manually whilst propelling myself up with my fins. A bit messy, but I get the hang of it and master the skill.

We return to the shallow end. Kneel at the bottom, remove and replace the mask, clear. Fin to middle ground and kneel on the bottom after equalising my ears. Remove and replace the mask, clear. Fin to the deep end… remove and replace the mask, clear. We fin back to the shallow end and up.

I’ve done it, finally! It’s clicked!

I’m wearing this huge grin. Damon is grinning, Lou is grinning and my manner and expression have altered completely.

I think I can do this!

Click here to read all of Esther’s diary posts on one page.