From Fear to Freedom

"The swimming pool that once terrified me is now my place of peace"

Editor's Note:

This piece by Capt ( IN) Navtej Singh describes the swimming training methodology that was adopted and implemented at NDA during 1986 .Although it pertains to Foxtrot / Delta Sqn, it can be safely concluded that the training methodology for other Squadrons, too ,was no different ! It has been almost 40 years since 1986 . Has the PT training methodology applicable for swimming training at NDA undergoing any reviews and have any sensible or scientific changes taken place in the training methodology? This is highly debatable as a lot of reviews and refinements have taken place at NDA for the past 4 decades. What matters most now is the present and prevalent training methodology not only for swimming but for the entire PT curriculum /training regimen for cadets at NDA which for past 6 terms/ semesters also have lady cadets .In fact ,the 1st batch passed out with the 148th course on 30 May 2025 .

A lot of required data ,facts and related analysis for above requirements of reviews and refinements for training at NDA has been well documented during the past 15 years ( 2010 - 26) in several articles that have been published in 5 volumes of the Victory India Campaign books, Fauji India Magazines and MVI articles . This rich and highly researched knowledge / information lies hidden in hundreds of pages of articles in these manuals/ magazines, both in print and online versions that will be available and accessible only for keen and enthusiastic learners !

Editor ,MVI

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I joined the NDA as a 16-and-a-half-year-old, straight out of 11th class, in the sweltering summer of 1986. I didn’t know how to swim — and nobody cared. One of the first things that happened was a friendly march (read: forced herding) to the swimming pool. We were told, “Swimmers to the left, non-swimmers to the right.” I obediently joined the non-swimmer queue, blissfully unaware that my life was about to flash before my eyes.

Before I could say “I don’t have a swimsuit,” I was launched — quite literally — into the deep end of the pool. As I flailed and gasped for breath, a bamboo pole appeared like a ray of hope. I reached out in desperation… only to be shoved further into the pool. Welcome to the legendary bamboo therapy. After that, swimming sessions weren’t sessions — they were survival drills. That was my initiation to shamming.

Over time, I learned to float, splash, and somehow make it from one end of the pool to the other. But the fear never left. And then came the dreaded 10-meter jump. Usually scheduled after lunch for the entire squadron — and trust me, nobody ate lunch that day. Except me. Oddly enough, I never feared the jump. Maybe I was too numb by then.

When I moved to Foxtrot Squadron from NDA wing , my divisional officer was Lt. RH Shinde. His idea of coaching non-swimmers was… innovative. He’d make us lie on the burning-hot tarmac in full swimming costume everyday immediately after lunch and do dry breaststroke movements. Rain, shine, or winter — the road was our pool. Years later, when I became a divisional officer myself, I often thought of him — mostly as an example of what not to do.

Eventually, I passed my 50-meter test. But to be honest, the swim from 1 to 49 meters took the same time as the final one meter. I made it, but the trauma stayed lodged somewhere deep — much like that first plunge.

Years passed. I became a strong runner — mornings, evenings, up mountains, down roads. Then, as always happens in the forces — my knees gave up before I did.

I shifted to cycling. It helped, but I still felt something missing. I needed something calming, meditative… and calorie-burning. So, I cautiously returned to the pool — the same villain from my NDA days.

At first, I could barely swim 3–4 lengths. Then I met an officer in the pool who casually said, “Swim 30 non-stop — that’s when it starts to mean something.” Challenge accepted. And accomplished.

Slowly, the number grew. And somewhere in the rhythm of the strokes and breaths, something shifted.

I found peace. Solitude. A place where I didn’t have to talk, explain, or compete. Just glide, breathe, and be.

Today, I can swim for hours without getting bored. The pool that once haunted me is now my sanctuary. A space that holds no ranks, no judgments, no noise — just stillness and breath.

Swimming, to me now, is more than exercise. It’s therapy. It’s meditation in motion. It’s the one place I truly meet myself — without uniforms, without expectations, and thankfully, without bamboo sticks.

Thank you, swimming — for turning fear into freedom. And for helping me come full circle, stroke by stroke.

RELEVANT RESPONSE:

Nixon Fernando ,former Lecturer & Conselor NDA :

What a swimming coach can achieve in three or four sessions, NDA achieved for him in 3 years.

Another typical example of unqualified seniors taking care of juniors .

For all practical reasons, the bamboo, Div Officer acted like a 7th termer (though he might have not literally wielded the bamboo himself) . Somewhere in between teaching a skill and teaching to overcome fear and acting with courage, the academy could be losing the plot.

For we know that only a fine line separates courage from foolishness.

It only reinforces our stand that training must happen under skilled instructors, theoretical aspects of PT (and swimming too) must be a compulsory part of the syllabus, and informal training must be re-defined in a way that squadron traditions, which may even border on stupidity, don't take root at the academy.

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Author :

Capt (IN) Navtej Singh is from the 76th course NDA . He has been a Divisional Officer at NDA and has 12 years experience of being GTO of SSB . He is now a TEDx speaker, traveler, and photographer who documents vanishing communities and tribes through powerful visual storytelling.