Douglas was extremely scared of water so to overcome this fear, he decided to get an instructor to teach him to swim. Douglas and the instructor spent an hour each day for five days a week at the swimming pool. The instructor would put a belt around Douglas which was attached to a rope on an overhead cable; the instructor would hold one end of the rope while Douglas went back and forth in the pool. This went on hour after hour, day after day, week after week. It took nearly three months for Douglas to ease the tension of swimming across the pool. Once Douglas gained the confidence, the instructor taught Douglas to put his face underwater and exhale, and then raise his nose and inhale. For several weeks, the instructor made Douglas kick with his legs until he was able to control his legs underwater. Slowly, but steadily, the instructor made a swimmer out of Douglas.