“I learned to swim at camp,” said Carol Requadt (1945), “and although I would hover in the background at the lake, there was a day I will never forget. I wasn’t getting what I needed as far as swimming instruction because I was shy. It was a cold day and the waterfront instructor was in the cold lake shivering, but she taught me everything. I earned my blue cap and could swim to the blue raft. I think I was the smallest one out there and I had a fear of the “blood suckers”, so that was my incentive to swim and not put my feet on the bottom of the lake. Swimming was everthing to me and that was the most wonderful day to me—the day I learned to swim in that cold water. I will never forget it. In fact, I swim to this day and it has been a life long passion.”
The leeches were a fear for a huge majority of the campers, but we will get to that at a later time. Swimming was traumatic for many of the girls for other reasons. Anne Duffield had a much gentler swimming experience in 1947 at camp, after a woman had tied a rope around her waist at the age of six and threw her into deep water.
Layla Rose Hennes was always an apprehensive swimmer. As a camper in 1939, she finally learned at camp, but never learned to love the water. Marge Niedzelski (1946-47) felt as though, (compared to her sister), she was not a good swimmer, but advanced far enough to use the canoes. Audrey Graff (1948) was excited at how long she could tread water and progressed to lifesaving.
Girls who hated to put their faces in the water or get their hair wet, like Kerry Weber, finally learned to swim in 1952 at camp. Janice Moore (1953) was just thrilled to place third in a sidestroke race.
Others felt like Camp Maqua was a rigorous camp that allowed the girls to push themselves to become better in everything. Nancy Michelson’s strongest memory was how cold the water was at eight in the morning in the sixties, but she always pushed herself and learned to swim at camp.
“Learning to swim at Maqua was a benefit when I went to Harvard,” said Chris Augustyniak, who camped in the sixties. “One of the requirements to attend happened to be swimming the length of the pool, which you would not think Harvard would be known for. I did make the length, even though I hate getting my ears wet. You could pass if you could get across in any way–floating, swimming, or dog paddle. That requirement was due to the memory of Mr. Harry Elking Widener and his son, who lost their lives when they were unable to swim as the Titanic went down. His wife had a library built in their memory with $2 million, which was an incredible amount in that era! Another stipulation—every Harvard student had to pass a swimming test!”
It was a testament to insightful hiring practices to find qualified instructors to teach at camp. Priscilla Johns grew up on water and swam competitively and taught at camp in the late sixties. She raised two sons swimming and one attempted to qualify for Olympic trials.
Karen Cox was at camp during the same years and had been recruited from Western Michigan University. She had her water safety instruction credentials since high school. “As a teacher in swimming, she was one of the best,” wrote Dorthe Balaskas in her director’s report.
Many girls could recall the names of their counselors. Sally Hurand was taught by Lin Harris in the sixties and became a very strong swimmer.Do you recall your counselor?