FRIENDS IN WATER
COMMUNITY
Learn on your own. Mastermind it together.
Self Paced Practice. Community Support. Teacher's Guidance.
If you're an adult who can't swim, you already know the feeling.
Your friends head for the deep end and you find a reason to stay by the side. Someone books a holiday with a pool, and you smile while quietly planning how to avoid it. You tell yourself it's too late, that your body just isn't made for water, that you'll sort it out next year.
I know that feeling because I lived with it for more than 30 years.
My name is Alan Cie. I learned to swim at 32. At 38 I qualified as a swimming teacher. Today I hold the STA Level 2 swimming teaching award and a pool rescue qualification, and I teach nervous adult beginners in private swimming lessons.
I didn't grow up in the water. I'm a late starter who worked it out the slow way, and that's exactly why I built this community.
You are NOT ALONE
More than half of people aged 15 and over worldwide say they can't swim without help. Even in wealthy countries, it's about 1 in 4 adults.1
So if you can't swim, you're in the majority. You've just been made to feel embarrassed about it.
Competency first.
Most swimming courses promise confidence. The trouble is that you can feel confident and still struggle in the water.
One university study found that 76% of students could swim more than 300 metres, but only 40% could float for 15 minutes.2 Staying afloat is a separate skill, and it's the one that keeps you safe.
What actually changes things is water competency. These are real skills you can practise and test yourself on:
- Breath control
- Front float and back float
- Getting back to standing
- Safe entry and exit
- Moving through the water
- Deep water basics
- Knowing when not to swim
Build those skills and confidence follows on its own. Skills first. Confidence second.
Why adults get stuck
When you're scared in the water, your nervous system takes over. Your amygdala switches you into fight or flight. Your body stiffens, your breathing goes short and shallow, and floating feels impossible.
That's your panic instinct doing its job in the wrong place.
The way through is to retrain that instinct, one small step at a time, at a pace your body agrees to. That's hard to do in a 30 minute lesson with the clock running. And it's lonely to do by yourself.
Introducing Friends in Water
Friends in Water is a global community for adults learning to swim. You practise at your own pace, and beginners from all over the world practise alongside you. You share your wins, ask your questions, and mastermind the hard parts together.
It's built on three things that work together.
Self Paced Practice. Step-by-step tutorials you can take to the pool and work through at your own speed. No deadlines, and no monthly fee ticking over while you take your time.
Community Support. Adult beginners worldwide who know exactly what your first front float feels like. Ask anything. Nobody here will laugh.
Teacher's Guidance. Weekly Lives with me where you can ask me anything, plus interviews with lifeguards, teachers and swimmers who have been where you are now.
What's inside
- Swimming tutorials built around the water competency skills above
- Weekly Lives with Alan (ask me anything)
- Real stories from other beginners around the world
- Exclusive interviews with lifeguards, teachers and swimmers
- Water safety education for overthinkers and anxious people
- The No Go Zone: when you should absolutely not swim
- Recommended places to practise, from hotel pools and spas to waterparks and sea resorts
- A guide to useful products, plus channels to follow and books worth reading
- Motivation and practical hacks for the tough days
- Monthly giveaways
How we do things
Friends in Water is non-competitive. There's no negativity, no politics, no judgement and no bullying. Feedback is constructive, people genuinely look out for each other, and everyone practises safely and responsibly. When you make progress, you pay it forward to the next beginner.
Who it's for
Friends in Water is for adults, especially 30 and over, who can't swim yet, or who can get around a bit but freeze at the thought of deep water. If you want real, practical skills, you're in the right place.
It's built for beginners, so competitive swimmers and anyone chasing lap times will find a better fit elsewhere.
The founding offer
When the doors open, Friends in Water will cost £99, paid once, for lifetime access. There's no monthly subscription.
The first 200 members become founding members and pay £49.50 for lifetime access. That's half price, for good. Once those 200 places are gone, the price goes back to £99.
Founding members also get:
- Priority support
- Exclusive offers on products and events
- Surprise packs
- The chance to be featured in my documentary and content
- A personal thank-you from me
The waitlist hears first when the doors open. If you want a founding place, the waitlist is where you start.
Every membership gives something back
10% of profits go to swimming education and drowning prevention. My mission is to help a million people overcome their fear of water, and every member moves that mission forward.
Join the waitlist
It's free. You'll be the first to know when the doors open, and first in line for one of the 200 founding places.
It's free.
Founder, Befriend Water
P.S. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.