Paul proved to be a false beginner when it came to swimming, although his progress from water-phobia to basic competence wasn’t without its pitfalls. At his first lesson, Grace made him swim in beach shorts because he showed up in Speedos left over from school. And much as she wanted to see what was under the black t-shirt he had brought, he had forgotten to apply any suntan lotion to his fair skin on what was the hottest day of the summer so far, so the session looked like life-saving training as Paul, fully clothed, flapped and thrashed his way through waist-deep water, all with a wide grin on his face, as though he couldn’t be happier.
At their second lesson, the following day, Paul showed up in a pair of trunks and a swimming t-shirt from J’s Surf Shack. As they thrashed about in the
