Roberta Lenghel, from Gants Hill, had dreamed of becoming an air hostess.
But her ambitions were sunk when her training was halted because she could not swim.
“I thought speaking three languages would be the most important thing,” Roberta, 29, said. “But they sent me home after five minutes. I was devastated.”
That rejection became her turning point. She booked swimming lessons at Becontree Heath Leisure Centre and vividly remembers the fear at her first session.
“I sat on the edge of the pool clinging to the wall.
“I was terrified that the instructor would push me in — I was that scared.”
But she made progress with five lessons a week, swimming short distances at first and eventually braving the deep end.
Roberta said: “Swimming became therapy once I was in the water.
“It calmed me when it was just me and the water.”
Her confidence grew, along with a new sense of purpose, having thought of doing Level 1 teacher training merely as a stepping stone to becoming an air hostess.
“But something changed,” Roberta said. “The excitement I felt about flying shifted to swimming.”
Roberta completed her qualifications and is now a Level 2 swimming instructor and coach — working full-time at the very pool where she learned to swim.
She now helps others conquer the fear she knew all too well as a child.
Her story came to light during Drowning Prevention Week, a campaign by the Royal Life Saving Society for water safety awareness.
Roberta is an instructor for Everyone Active, which runs the leisure centre for Barking and Dagenham Council.
The company promotes physical programmes to encourage people to do 30 minutes exercise minimum, five times a week.
Swimming is one of the suggested activities — it helps people get over any fear of water like it did for Roberta.
