CHAPTER

DEEP WATER
-William Doughlas- 3
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS -
1. What is the misadventure that the author speaks about?
Ans. The unfortunate drowning experience that he had when he was eleven year old,
picked up by a big bruiser and tossed into the mine- feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A.
pool was the misadventure that he talked about. He hit the water surface in the
sitting position and went to the bottom. This misadventure almost killed him.
2. What was the impact of Y.M.C.A. pool incident on Douglas.
Ans. The misadventure at YMCA pool shook Douglas to the core. When the walked back
home, he was weak and trembling. He shook and cried when he laid on his bed. He
couldn't eat that night. For day a hunting fear was there in his heart. The slightest
exertion would upset him, making him wobbly in the knees and sick to my
stomach. He was even more afraid of water. He avoided it whenever he could. HIs
haunting fear was so over-whelning that he never went near a pool or enjoyed
activities like fishing, boating and canoeing.
3. Why was he determined to get over this fear of water?
Ans. The fear of water ruined his fishing tricks and deprined him of the joys of boating,
swimming and canoeing. He tried desperately to over come this fear which he had
developed in his childhood while wading with his father in the shores of California
and which gripped him when he was tossed in the YMCA pool as a young boy.
4. Who two things did he dislike to do as a child?
Ans. Douglas hated to walk towards the pool, scantly aruessed and show his poor
physique and skinny legs. Secondly, he was also afraid to go clone, so he sat by the
side of the pool and waited for other. But, he relised that he would never have
learnt to be a swimmer without entering water.
5. "I crossed to oblivion and the curtain of life fell". Explain.
Ans. When he went down the pool the third time, he swallowed more water. All his
efforts to jump up were in vain as his legs went limp. A blackness swept across his
brain and he wiped out all his fear and panic. There was no more terror, it was
quiet and peaceful and he wanted to go to sleep.
6. "The instructor was finished but I was not". Explain.
Ans. "The instructor was finished but I was not". Above statement was quoted by
William Douglas when his swimming lessons were over and he had learnt it will.
That way, the job of the instructor was over. Pain - stakingly the instructor had
made Douglas an expert swimmer. He worked with him piece - by piece and put
them together into an integrated goal. However, Douglas was not satisfied because
as he entered the pool, the vestiges of the old terror gripped him and thus he
decided to continue with his efforts even in the absence of the instruction.
7. "In the midst of terror, came a touch of reason!" How did the two forces were in
opposite directions?
Ans. Logic and reason tempted him to jump when he hit the bottom of the pool as he felt
the titles beneath him. But, the jump made no difference as the yellow hued water
held him back. He shook and trembled with fright. He cried flaying his arms and
legs but they wouldn't move. He cried for help, but no sound emerged, yet he tried
his best to have presence of mind and keep himself afloat.
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8. What created an aversion to water in the heart of Douglas?
Ans. Douglas childhood experience of water created an aversion to it in his heart. When
he was 3 or 4 years old, his father took him to the beach in California where they
both stood together in the surf. He hung to his father yet the waves knocked him
down and swept over him. He was buried in water. His breath was gone. He was
frightened. Since then, there was terror in his heart at the overpowering force of
the waves.
9. What plan did Douglas make to come out of the pool?
Ans. When William Douglas was thrown into the pool, he was frighteneir but not yet
frightened out of his wits. On his way down to the surface of the pool, he planned
that when his feet would at the bottom, he would make a big jump and bob to the
surface like a cork, lie flat and paddle to the edge of the pool.
10. "I was frightened but not yet frightened out of my wits". Explain.
Ans. "I was frightened but not yet frightened out of my wits." The above statement was
made by Douglas when he was thrown into the YMCA pool. Being a hydrophobic,
he was extremely scared but not scared enough to lose the balance of his mind. He
had control over his senses and consciousness of his situation. He made a quick
and lever plan to come out of the pool by making a jump and paddling to the edge of
the pool.
11. Describe the last feelings of Douglas inside the pool.
Ans. When Douglas started going down a third time, all his efforts ceased. His body
stopped moving and a blackness swept over his mind. The terror, the fear was
gone. He felt peaceful, drowsy and wanted to sleep. He felt cender arms like
mother's around him and an irresistible need to sleep. His life was on the verge of
ending.
12. Why Douglas decided to hire an instructor?
Ans. Douglas aversion to water had stayed with him as he grew up. Every time he would
enter into water, the terror that had seized him in the YMCA pool would come
back. It took possession of him completely. His holidays were going waste. His
hydrophobia ruined his fishing trips and deprived him of the joy of canoeing,
boating and swimming. That is why, he decided to hire an instructor and learn to
swim.
13. What did Douglas do to remove his residual fear?
Ans. To remove his residual fear of water, Douglas hurried west at his first opportunity.
He went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Creek Trail to Meade
Glacier, and camped in the high meadow by the side of Warm Lake. The next
morning he stripped, dive into the lake, and swam across to the other shore and
back. He shouted with joy. He had conquered his fear of water.
14. "All we have the fear is fear itself." Who said his statement and why?
Ans. "All we have to fear is fear itself". Above statement was made by Franklin D.
Roosevelt - the President of America. He said so because he wanted to convey to
the world that the only thing we need to be afraid of is fear, it is the root cause of the
self-imposed limitations on our abilities and qualities. Fear of death does not let us
enjoy life, through there in tension only in the fear of death while in death there is
place.
15. Why Douglas selected YMCA pool for his swimming practices?
Ans. Douglas selected YMCA pool for his swimming practices as it was safe. It was only
two or three feet deep at the shallow end and while was nine feet deep at the other,
the drop was gradual.
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16. Why mother continually warned Douglas against Yakima river?
Ans. Yakima was a treacherous river. It twined aggressive any time and would take life
of people. So mother kept details of every drawing in Yakima river fresh in Douglas
mind and continually warned him against it. She was worried about his safety and
did not want him to go learn swimming in Yakima river.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS:
1. How did the misadventure in the YMCA pool affect Douglas? What efforts did he
make to conquer it and did he succeed?
Ans. Douglas nearly lost his life in the YMCA pool as the big bruiser tossed him inside
water. For months later, he had a hunting fear of water, the slightest exertion
affected him and he avoided going anywhere near it. He could not enjoy any
activity associated with water like fishing, boating or canoeing. For months, this
obsession and fear overpower him and became a physical and psychological
handicap.
He used every method to overcome this fear. He analysed the problem in the face
and methodically went about overcoming it. He employed the services of an
instructor who with determination and zeal, made him an expert swimmer in
seven months. However, the vestiges of fear came back when he went near water.
Finally, he went to lake went worth and swam two miles. Still the old terror
returned. Then, he went to warm lake, dined into the water, swam across to the
other shore and came back. This attempt made him overcome his aversion fro
water and he shouted with joy. The entire narrative and his will power epitomizes
the same, "when there is a will, there is a way."
2. How did the instructor build a swimmer out of Douglas?
Ans. William Douglas had used energy way he knew to overcome his fear of water, but it
held him firmly in its grip. Finally one October, he decide to hire an instructor and
learn to swim. He went to a pool and practicedz five days a week, an hour each day.
The instructor put a belt around him. A rope attached to the belt around him. A
rope attached to the belt around him went through a pulley that ran on an
overhead cable. The instructor held on the pulley and they went back and forth,
back and forth across the pool, hour after hour, day after day week after week. It
was three months before his fear began to diminish. Then the instructor taught
him to put his face under water and exhale, and to raise his nose and inhale. He
repeated the exercise hundreds of times. Next, the trainer held him at the side of
the pool and had him kick with his legs. For weeks, he did just that. At first, his
legs refused to work. But they gradually relaxed and finally he could command
them. Thus, piece by piece the instructor built a swimmer. And when he had
perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole. In April, he
asked Douglas to dive into the water and swim the length of the pool. His trainee
did not disappoint. He was done with his job.
3. "Presence of mind during times of danger is like half the battle won." Explain.
Ans. Williams Douglas was a hydrophobic person. Since childhood, there was terror of
water in his heart. When he went to learn swimming at the YMCA pool a
misadventure happened. One day, a muscular boy tossed Douglas into the deep
end of the pool when nobody was around. He was extremely frightened but not yet
frightened out of this with somehow, he managed to gather his courage in the
moments of panic and made a plan in his mind to come out of the water. On his
way down to the surface of the pool, he planned that when his feet would hit the
bottom, he would make a big jump and bob to the surface like a cork lie on water
and paddle to the edge of the pool. When his feet actually hit the bottom, he tried to
make a jump but it did not prove to be big enough and he started on a downward
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 journey again. He executed his plan to second time but could not be successful
and started going down again. By then, his body refused to move and he felt like he
would die. But somebody noticed him drowning and saved him. His attempts and
struggle in the pool got him noticed and his life was saved. Truly said - presence of
mind during times of danger is like half the battle won.
4. Character sketch of Douglas 'or' Douglas determinations highlight that "Cowards
die many a times, the brave die just once."

Rise to Overcomes mental

heroic statue handicap Strong will power

Resolute and Born Swimmer

logical
DOUGLAS Gut power and fighting spirit
Living image
of branado and Stares the problem in the face
persistent effort Gritty and
determinant Truthful, frank, honest
Die hard Indefatigable
optimist zeal

VALUE BASED QUESTIONS:

1. From the experience of William Douglas, we understand that it is possible to
overcome even the worst of our fears. How can a person make this possible?
2. William Douglas had managed to overcome his face of water but a past of the credit
also goes to his teacher who played an important role in making this happen. How
can learning be more effective?

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