We asked you, our lovely readers, to tell us about your swimming achievements from the past year, and what an inspirational mailbag we received. Without further ado here are our favourites. Prepared to be inspired …

Rescue fly …
“As a water rescue technician with the London fire brigade I am trained to enter moving and static water to rescue and assist casualties. For this I wear a dry suit and a PFD (similar to a life jacket). I am also tethered to another rescuer on the river bank, by means of a detachable floating safety line. I consider myself a strong swimmer but swimming in this attire is awkward. Having been taught butterfly by Steven Shaw I thought I would see how it fared. In late autumn we headed for Teddington for our annual skills refresher course. On this visit there was not a great deal of flow in the Thames so I gave the butterfly a try. It worked! With the buoyancy of the suit keeping my upper body high in the water I swam approximately 50 metres from one bank to the other. Rescue fly!”
Simon

Island hopping…
“A long-time breaststroker, I’d struggled to swim front crawl with the same ease and comfort until I started Shaw Method lessons two years ago: first with Ian and Cheryl Cross and subsequently with Linda Price at Swimtime. I was able to develop a relaxed and sustainable stroke and gained enough confidence to go on a Swimtrek sea-swimming holiday this summer in the Scillies. It was an unforgettable experience and the high point of my year: swimming between the islands was an amazing adventure. The unique perspective on the Scillies’ underwater kelp forests and their curious seals (see pic) could only be possible by swimming!”
Peter Briggs

Learning butterfly…
“Since I hurt my back some years ago (which affected my neck and shoulder after a while too) I felt a bit nervous about the idea of swimming butterfly. But as I had good experiences with the Shaw Method it felt like a safe way to learn this stroke. It took me quite a while just to learn the undulation and my neck was quite stiff at first (probably the fear of injury – well I was always a bit paranoid!). Also learning how to lead with the head seemed a bit difficult to grasp for me at first. I got there after a while and am actually quite enjoying the wave-like movement these days. This year I focused more on getting the whole stroke together and after some further lessons can swim it quite comfortably now. Some people have even complimented me on the gracefulness of the stroke, which is a great sign.
Alexa Nindl, Shaw Method teacher

Never giving up…
“My sister, Jen Jackson, and I (see right) decided it would be a good idea to take part in the Great North Swim to raise money for  Manchester Childrens Hospital and Barrow Special Care Unit,  two causes which are very close to our hearts. My niece Charlee was born 12 weeks early and has epilepsy, cerebral palsy and other complications. When we heard the Great North Swim had been cancelled, we decided to swim the Great Salford Swim instead. We’d trained so hard and raised over £2,000 and were determined to honour our promise to swim the mile after people had been so generous. But we hadn’t  swum outdoors before and I wasn’t sure I was going to finish at one point. As I swam down the canal my mum stood on the bridge and lifted my niece out of her pram and shouted, ‘This is why you are doing it.’ In the end we both made it round, Jen in just under 50 mins, me in an hour.  It was an amazing experience!”
Ali Luke

Surviving the OSS December Dip…
“The last one I can remember – and probably the one that has removed memory of anything at all that happened previously this year  – was swimming 60 metres in Parliament Hill Lido as part of the OSS December Dip on 4 December. It was during the big freeze, when most of the country was covered in snow, and the water was 0.1 degrees. It bites off your hands and your toes, squeezes all the air out of your lungs. 200 of us jumped in at the same time. I was halfway across the first width before I knew what was happening to me, and just metres away from finishing the second before the sleepy slow-moving who-cares of hypothermia set in: looking at the pool edge, but not really sure if I could be bothered to swim there. What decided it was the feeling of two huge crab pinchers attached to my buttocks: a weird but real effect of cold water on your glutes. I got out smacked red all over by the cold and when the water sluiced out beside me the snow didn’t melt. Straight into the hot tub, then mince pies and ginger wine. Glorious!”
Kate Rew, author of Wild Swim, and founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society

Swimming in the sea…
“Whilst I can’t match Kate’s thermometer-busting swim I had my own “cold water” moment this year when I went swimming off the coast of Scotland. Anyone who knows me well knows that I hate cold water and actually feel the chill in a swimming pool that is below 29 degrees. So for me to have a dip in the Atlantic was a big achievement. I was assisted by Aqua Sphere who supplied the necessary insulation, and my brother Nick who supplied the boat cover. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been back in, but come next summer I’m going to make it a regular happening. I’ll let you know how I get on.”
Jane-Ann Purdy, Editor/Publisher, Art of Swimming

Learning front crawl…
“Having been diagnosed with a heart condition I bought myself an ‘exercise’ pool. Swimming breaststroke had been my preferred exercise for over 40 years, but then I developed a torn cartilege in one knee and was told not to do breaststroke. I had never been able to get the breathing right for front crawl and was nervous about taking in water. I read about the Shaw Method and it seemed to be a possible solution for my dilemma. I tracked down a teacher in my part of the country and it was the best thing I have ever done. I could hardly bear to put my face in the water at first. Now I am totally comfortable, not only with my face in the water, but also with the breathing and the leisurely roll of the stroke. I can cover large distances in no time and with no effort. Next step is to be able to do the same in my ‘against the flow’ pool. With a few more one-to-one lessons I am hopeful we can crack that in the new year. Watch this space.”
Rosemarie

Feeling at ease in the water…
“I am lucky enough to have a pool at home (see right) but never really enjoyed it to the full. I always had a sense of battling against the water and a certain latent fear of the water. I only swam breaststroke as I couldn’t do the front crawl having no idea how to breathe. I even did the breaststroke with a snorkel. Then I went on Art of Swimming’s three-day course at Champneys Tring with Steven Shaw, where we concentrated largely on the front crawl. I really enjoyed the whole course, despite my fear before going, and felt much more confident in the water afterwards. I didn’t initially feel I had cracked the front crawl during the course but bought three DVDs and a book and concentrated on these to help me when I got home. Within a couple of weeks I had made great progress and felt so at ease in the water. I really felt that my investment had paid off. I can now do the front crawl and the breaststroke fairly consistently and enjoy these two. Thank you Steven.”
Andrew Smith

My son’s progress in the pool…
“My 6-year-old son started lessons with Peter Sichel and there was a real and true connection. Like all children, my son was better at some things than others and as he was not into football, he found it difficult to bond with other children at school. We tried several other sports but nothing stuck until swimming. Peter cracked it with our little one and reached him through humour and great teaching. My son is now the best swimmer in his class and his confidence level has soared. We hope that he will try out for a swim squad in the future.”
Alex

Fun and adventure outdoors…
“My swimming since childhood has mainly been confined to swimming pools, formal places for swimming in lanes up and down in an orderly fashion. The great fun I remembered having in the sea or rivers on holidays as a child were distant memories until this year. My biggest achievement for 2010 was to bring back that childhood sense of fun, excitement and adventure to my swimming, taking part in Outdoor Swimming Society events (see right) and wild swims in rivers, lakes and the sea. I hope to build upon this next year with lots more of the same.”
Phil Heath

Swimming for recovery…
“I joined my local university pool which is peaceful and lovely. I used to go there straight from my daily radiotherapy sessions. Despite initial breathlessness in the water, I could swim a kilometre of breaststroke thanks to the Shaw Method. Whenever I got a bit tired I’d mutter under my breath, ‘B******* to cancer,’ as if I was investing recovery into every swim stroke.”
Celia Johnson

Learning to swim…
“Learning to swim in my 60s has given me much confidence, happiness and courage. I was sure that I would never be able to put my head under water. I used to suffer from asthma and thought it would be impossible to breathe properly. Only after I learnt the Alexander Technique in the water, I realised that swimming with my head under the water would help my breath right away! All my thanks go to Yael Unna, from Jerusalem, my instructor and my friend who was patient enough and taught me to overcome my fear and enjoy swimming.”
Yael Cohen

Swimming for charity…
“I’m a paralysed wheelchair user with no movement from the waist down. This year I set myself a challenge and completed the one mile Great London Swim in July and a 2.5 mile outdoor swim in a lake in Snowdonia (see right) in August to raise money for the spinal injuries charity Aspire. I started my training in March and at that time I couldn’t even swim a length of front crawl or put my face in the water. Slowly but surely and one length at a time I taught myself to swim and built up my distances until I was able to do 60 lengths. I loved both swims and am so proud that I was not only  able to complete the two distances but raise some money for a great charity.”
Stephen Lightbown

Flying at 63…
“This year I attended an Art of Swimming holiday with Steven Shaw. Having only peripheral vision didn’t stop me learning Shaw Method techniques for the crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. The fly at 63? I thought I would find it impossible. But on my last morning with Steven I had an hour’s one-to-one lesson and swam butterfly. What an experience! In October off the South Devon coast, dressed in just swimsuit and hat, I reprised my fly thanks to Steven’s training. And my new breaststroke means I can dolphin down a 25 metre pool in eight strokes and catch up fast 25-year-old male breaststrokers. What a liberation!”
Sue Harrod

The art of getting out of the way…
“In 2010 I resolved to swim all four strokes every time I got into the water, and I have been able to work on improvements on all of them this year. As usual I have learned so much from my pupils over the past 12 months, not least from my youngest student: my 10-month-old daughter Akyra (see right). She is most definitely teaching me the art of being there and the art of getting out of the way! That means I am there with her from a safety point of view, but offer a lightness of touch that allows her to explore her own relationship with the water.”
Steven Shaw, Shaw Method founder