My Fahrtenschwimmer decal looked a lot like this one
When I was a teenager, Mutti left the Carnival with us girls
and little Michael. We stayed in the caravan home in Wetzlar for about one
year, then moved into an apartment in a tiny town close to Wetzlar. I rode my bicycle
to Wetzlar to work every morning.
I was seventeen by that time, but because I had left school
at fourteen, and because of our constant traveling I had never made any
friends.
A seventeen-year-old without friends is a rare thing!
Something had to take the place of friends, and I did find two things that
delighted me to no end. I had converted to the LDS church two years earlier,
and in our tiny branch in Wetzlar I made a friend, a girl with whom I’m still
in contact today. However, she lived in Giessen, about twelve miles from
Wetzlar, and even further away from the tiny town I lived in, so we saw each
other only occasionally, and when we took the train to visit each other.
The other thing that I delighted in doing might have found
me friends, but because of my background, which taught me to be careful and not
make friends because I would just lose them again, and because of a natural
shyness of strangers, it never did.
But I did have fun! I went to the indoor pool in Wetzlar
every week or so, to swim, teach myself to dive, jump off the board, and in
general delight in playing in the water. Most of the kids in the pool were
younger and I kept to myself for the above mentioned reasons. I learned to swim
on my back and under water, but I never could teach myself the crawl, which is
so commonly taught here in the States.
One day, I was playing along the rim of the pool when the
life saver on duty, and older man, at least twenty-five, bent down and talked
to me. “I see you here a lot. Would you be interested in getting your Fahrtenschwimmer?”
I had heard of Fahrtenschwimmer
before, but wasn’t sure if I could do it. “What exactly would I have to do to
get it?”
“You have to be able to swim for fifteen minutes without
touching the bottom or the sides and dive for ten meters and bring up one of
these blocks.” He held up a black rubber block with a handle. “They’re only
five pounds. Also, you have to dive off the high board and swim on your back
without using your arms.”
“I don’t know.” I frowned at the man. “It sounds hard.”
“It isn’t. I’ve seen you do all of that just for fun. If you
pass, you’ll get your certification. You could go on from there, take another
test, and even become a lifesaver, if you want.”
That sounded great to me. “How much does it cost?”
“It’s only five Marks. I have regular times when I administer the test. You’ll be certified right afterward. So how about it?”
“Yes. I want to do it.”
“Come with me to my office, and we’ll set you up.”
Two weeks later, on a Saturday when I didn’t have to work, I
took my Fahrtenschwimmer test and
passed it. I received a little decal and a blue booklet certifying that I passed and could
go on from there.
At home, I showed it to Mutti, but she was busy with Michael
and just glanced at it. I put it away, intending to take the next test, which
included forty-five minutes of swimming and some diving. But things got in the
way, and I never went back for it.
However, I still delight in swimming and water play.
