Jumping to the wrong conclusion

All of us during our lifetimes, accomplish things, be it big or small but we also screw up big and small so I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you this short story about one of my colossal screw ups. There is a moral to this story and I sincerely hope that you learn from the mistake I made. The moral to my story is; never ever jump to any conclusion without first looking closer at whatever the subject or object or person you intend to base your conclusion on. And now my story.


In September 1954, I was working in Hollywood, California as a coach and swim instructor with the American Aquatic Institute and our young fledging swimmers were taking their learn-to-swim lessons at the Hollywood YMCA.

One day a man appeared on the edge of the YMCA's indoor pool. All fifty boys stared at the man with opened mouths. Since all our young boys being taught swimming in the YMCA were nude in the pool (as was the custom in those days in all YMCAs in North America) I really didn’t want adult males watching the boys swimming while they were nude so while I partially turned to face the man, I asked him to leave----which he promptly did without a word.

That afternoon, the general secretary of the YMCA asked me if the man he had asked to go to the pool to give me some advice on the Australian crawl was helpful to me. Since only one man appeared and I didn’t know why he was there, I told the general secretary that I had ordered him from the pool.

Now I know you are wondering who it was that I ordered out of the pool area without first ascertaining why he was there in the first place.

To my horror, I learned that he was none other then the great......Johnny Weissmuller himself---who not only was the first swimmer to win five gold medals in the Olympics and was considered one of the greatest swimmers of all times and a master of the Australian crawl which I was attempting to teach, he also played the role of Tarzan between 1932 and 1948 in twelve movies. Now I know why the boys stared at him with open mouths. Their hero had just entered the pool area. I asked the director to convey to Johnny my sincerest apologies---which he did, but I never saw Johnny Weismuller again. How I wish that I could brag that the Great One assisted me while I was teaching swimming to the boys. All I can admit to is that I threw the greatest swimmer in the world at that time out of the Hollywood YMCA pool. Actually, that's nothing to brag about.

I have never forgotten the experience nor have I ever forgotten the lesson derived from it either. Because of that stupid blunder in my life, I smartened up a bit which made it possible for me to later enjoy, the incredible experiences of being an assistant to Archie McKinnon, the three-time coach of the Canadian Olympic Swim Team and Gus Ryder, the coach of many fine swimmers, including Marilyn Bell, while I was assisting them when we were teaching and coaching their students in their swim classes and no........... when these great swim coaches offered me advice on my teaching techniques, I didn’t turf them out of the pools like I did to Johnny Weismuller.........you see, I don’t make those kinds of colossal blunders twice.......I just later continued on with my life and made other kinds of colossal blunders.