I grew up on a farm in the Niagara area. Once or twice a summer by Dad drove us to a public access road on Lake Erie. My two brothers and I learned to swim there. In the summer of 1959 we rented a cottage there. For me that was as close to heaven as we could get. I still prefer swimming in a lake to a pool. My sons all learned to swim in natural water, not pools and could easily amuse themselves with swimming and sand for hours. We love canoeing, backpacking and portaging. Two of my sons have advanced to white water canoeing.