how did dougle develope a fear …

From the very beginning, Douglas was much eager to learn swimming. When he was three or four years old, his father took him to the beach in California. He was standing in the surf. A strong wave knocked him down and he was buried in water. His breath was gone. He was much frightened but his father was holding him. Even then, the boy was much terrified by the destructive force of the wave. He developed an aversion to water.

Next time, when he was ten or eleven years old he resolved to learn swimming. He went to the Y.M.C.A. pool at Yakima. He was sitting there alone waiting for others to come. A big muscular boy addressed him ‘Skinny’ and asked him to be ducked. He tossed up Douglas and threw him into the deep end of the pool. He went down to the bottom and got panicky. This experience further strengthened the terror and fear of water in his mind and personality.