Learning to swim can be life-changing at any age. For STA-qualified swimming teacher and author Sola Alegbe, taking the plunge at the age of 48 not only helped her overcome a lifelong fear of water – it ultimately led to an entirely new career.

Now teaching children, adults and families across London, Sola has shared her remarkable journey in her book, JUMP!, the true story of how she went from being afraid of the water to becoming the person helping others learn one of life’s most important skills.

This October, as part of Black History Month and its 2026 theme, Honouring Our Communities, Sola hopes her story will encourage conversations about fear, representation and belonging in the water – and show how one person’s transformation can ripple through an entire community.

Finding swimming at 48

Swimming was not something Sola had grown up feeling comfortable with. In fact, she reached her late forties still carrying a lifelong fear of the water.

Her decision to finally learn came during a difficult period in her life. While working in a demanding customer-facing role, Sola became ill and, following her doctor’s advice to improve her health, joined a GP-referred exercise programme.

What started as a way of rebuilding her health and losing weight became something much bigger. While using a stationary bike at her local leisure centre, Sola found herself watching a swimmer glide through the pool. For the first time, curiosity became stronger than fear, and she decided to book an adult swimming lesson.

Sola said: “That first lesson was terrifying. There were only four steps into the pool, but it felt as though I was climbing down Mount Everest. I was frightened of losing control and reliving what had happened at school. I was also conscious of my body and of not seeing anyone else who looked like me.

“Weeks later, my teacher said, ‘Well done, Sola, you’re doing it.’ I punched the air. It may have looked like a small moment, but to me it was proof that I could do this.”

As her confidence in the water grew, so did her love of swimming.

From learner to teacher

Sola’s journey didn’t stop when she learned to swim.

Inspired by her own experience, she went on to complete the STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming (STQ), STA’s regulated swimming teaching qualification, and now teaches children, adults and families across London.

The qualification enables newly qualified teachers like Sola to teach across the full learn-to-swim pathway – turning her own journey from adult beginner into a new career helping others develop the same confidence in the water.

Becoming a swimming teacher marked a dramatic change from her previous working life, which could often be stressful and challenging.

Speaking previously about the difference swimming teaching had made to her life, Sola described switching careers as “the best thing that ever happened to me”, giving her the opportunity to work in a positive community environment and, importantly, to give something back.

Today, one of the things she values most is seeing swimmers develop the confidence that she herself once had to find.

She said: “I remember exactly what it feels like to stand at the edge feeling frightened and embarrassed because everyone else seems to know what to do. I never rush a nervous swimmer or dismiss their fear.

“I break things down, build trust and celebrate every small victory, because sometimes putting your face in the water or letting go of the wall takes more courage than swimming a length.”

Why representation matters

Sola’s story also speaks to a wider conversation around representation and belonging in aquatics.

For Black History Month 2026, she wants to use her own experiences to encourage conversations about who feels swimming is for them – and the importance of people being able to see themselves represented both in the water and among those teaching on poolside.

Sola said: “When I walked into my first lesson and saw nobody who looked like me, I felt as though I did not belong. No one was actually staring, but I felt very visible and alone.

“Representation matters because seeing Black swimmers and teachers can be the difference between someone remaining at the edge and feeling welcome enough to get into the water.”
For Sola, that sense of fear and exclusion had roots going back more than three decades.

At school, she says a teacher pushed her into the deep end despite her being unable to swim. She nearly drowned, and the experience stayed with her for years. Avoiding water became a habit.

As she writes in JUMP!: “Family holidays? I guarded the bags. Beach trips? I was suddenly very interested in ‘the view’.”

For Sola, becoming a swimming teacher has also given her the opportunity to be part of the representation she once felt was missing.

“It means a great deal because I know what it is like to look around and feel you are the only one,” she said.

“I can now be the teacher I needed when I stood on those pool steps at 48 – someone patient, encouraging and proof that you belong there. I hope a child, parent or adult learner sees me and thinks, ‘If she can do it, perhaps I can too.'”

Putting her story into words

Sola has now documented her journey in JUMP!, telling the story of how she overcame her fear, learned to swim at 48 and ultimately became a swimming teacher herself.

“I started writing during Covid, simply recording my experiences because I enjoy writing,” she explained.

“The more I wrote, the more I realised the story might help somebody who was still standing at the edge as I once did. I want readers to understand that they do not have to wait for fear to disappear before they begin. Confidence grows one small step at a time.”

Sola is currently exploring opportunities to share JUMP! through future readings and conversations about fear, representation and belonging in the water during Black History Month and beyond.

“It’s never too late”

Perhaps the most powerful message from Sola’s journey is also one of the simplest: learning to swim does not have an age limit.

At 48, she was an adult beginner confronting a lifelong fear of water. Today, she is an STA-qualified swimming teacher helping other people develop skills and confidence of their own.

For anyone standing where she once stood – frightened of the water, embarrassed that they cannot swim or convinced they have left it too late – Sola has one message:

“You don’t have to be fearless. You just have to start. The first step does not have to be a jump. Mine was holding the rail and learning to blow bubbles.

“Start where you are, go at your own pace and never be embarrassed by being a beginner. At 48, I thought swimming was not for me. Today I teach it. It is not too late.”

JUMP! From Fear to Freedom, One Kick at a Time is available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.