"All we have to fear is fear itself", said Roosevelt. When the element of fear creeps in, even the best of ventures will prove to be unsuccessful.
Douglas had an aversion to water since his childhood. He was, when a bully pushed him into the water. The fear conquered his mind and he developed an aversion to water from then onwards. However, after a point, he felt upset as he could not indulge in water activities like fishing, canoeing, boating and swimming.
So, he decided to overcome his fear of water. He appointed an instructor who trained him for 5 days. The instructor put a belt around him with a rope attached to the belt which went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. He held on to the end of the rope and went back and forth, week after week for nearly three months. The instructor made him put his face underwater and exhale, and then raise his nose and inhale. He held him at the side of the pool and made him kick the water with his legs. Piece by piece, Douglas became a swimmer and swam the length of the pool.
However, to fully reassure himself, he swam the length of the swimming pool alone in the absence of the instructor. He swam in Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire and the warm lake until he felt truly confident.