Because polio was thought to be a waterborne disease, however, Marjean, who lived in a small town in Oregon, wasn't allowed to swim until she was 15. Her first instructor, a handsome man seven years her senior, told her she would never be much of a swimmer because she lacked coordination. To prove him wrong, she set out to earn her Red Cross certification and within a year was giving lessons herself. At 18, she married her former instructor, and they opened their first swimming school.
Days Spent in the Water
She has spent her days standing in 3 1/2 feet of water ever since. "The day my youngest son was born I taught 12 hours, and four days later I taught 12 hours with him in the water right with me," she says. These days, she occasionally thinks about retiring but says she hasn't yet found a successor who is as comfortable working with babies and toddlers as she is. "To stay in the water as long as I do you would think I was nuts, but I love it so much, I don't want to get out," she says.
