Swimmer or Later…

We’re surrounded by water, yet a lot of Island folks don’t know how to swim — that’s where John Kobelansky Jr. comes in

John “JJ” Kobelansky Jr. is part English, Alaskan, Scottish, Norwegian, Polish and Russian, but it’s the quarter Hawaiian of him that makes him such a natural in the water. And it’s in the water where Kobelansky has found his true calling as a swimming instructor. But this local boy is no ordinary swimming instructor. He did try his hand at teaching children for a short time, but now solely concentrates on “water-challenged” adults.

“Three-fourths of people living here don’t know how to swim,” says Kobelansky.

Acommon reason for this? Fear of the water.

“Phobia is the worst. I try to get them (students) to confront it. Some people have had life threatening experiences, like almost drowning. After those experiences, they don’t want to get in the water.

“If fear is continuing as a factor, there (needs to be) a healthy respect for the water. That’s what I try to instill. I tell people you can give $200 to a psychiatrist to help you figure it out, (but) you’re getting advice from me for nothing. It’s your choice,” Kobelansky continues, adding, “I have great friends who are psychiatrists.”

Take Kobelansky’s longtime student Cynthia Oshiro. Oshiro has been taking the class since it started two years ago and enrolled because she was afraid to go above her neck in the water and also had a fear of drowning. These days, Oshiro attends the beginner’s sessions regularly, and is also joining Kobelansky’s advanced class and doing a little deep-water open-ocean swimming.

“With JJ’s help I feel confident,” she says proudly.

Others, like Francine McLaine, a blind paraplegic, physically cannot swim on their own. With help from Kobelansky and his assistants - Christine Radcliffe, Rina Westcott and Dustin Sharp - a few years back, McLaine swam in the open ocean, paddling through some semi-rough waters. Kobelansky proudly adds that since that time, McLaine has had a cornea operation and can now see.

“It touches me really deep sometimes,” he says.

These days, one can find the former member of Team Ulua, a triathlon training team, on Saturday mornings in a small nook of Magic Island, on the diamondhead side, where he teaches his students (around age 35 and up) in the safety of a naturally closed off and fairly shallow area of water. On June 16, MidWeek spent an hour on the beach to watch Kobelansky in action.

After a few stragglers arrive, Saturday’s class is in session. Kobelansky stresses the importance of conditioning to be a good swimmer, thus leading the group seven or so through a series of push-ups, running drills and stomach crunches.

“The emphasis is on the core, that’s where the strength comes from,” he explains. “The idea is to get people up to my swimming level - learn to swim even if you are a guppie.”

Before getting into the water, the teacher reminds everyone that they should stay in a streamline shape while swimming, similar to that of a pencil. “It’s cute and it floats,” he smiles.

In the water, students practice swimming back and forth in the “pencil” shape, and also emphasize the use of their arms over too much use of their legs, which has to do with another key element to swimming - power.

Power refers to how to apply what you have to move effectively

through the water. Some people have different strengths, says Kobelansky. Swimming is mostly about the upper body, “using everything right down to the toe-nail.”

“Kicking too much wears you down. Legs take more energy to move; get away from kicking.”

Kobelansky certainly knows a lot about why you shouldn’t wear yourself down while swimming in ocean.

“I think I’ve used seven of my nine lives. I’ve been in Makaha in 20-foot surf, plus I was hit in the head with a surfboard, knocked unconscious. All kinds of stuff, you name it.

“I try to get them (students) in gradually. We try to encourage a little more risk-taking each time. I am always there to help them along. Being calm helps, too. I

won’t get them into a situation that requires a lot life threatening skills on my part.”

Over his two years of teaching, Kobelansky’s goals have always been to get people to do open-ocean swimming and be safe in the water, both of which he has accomplished. He has further developed his tips and techniques like the “pencil” shape and, of course, learned the importance of not wearing yourself down in the open ocean. Also, the number of students he teaches has grown with his methods.

“My first class was three people. I said to myself, ‘I can swim, I enjoy the water,’” he recalls, laughing.

He credits friends, including Jeff Swafford, Claire Kawaishi and Joe Lilikes, for inspiring him along the way.

In addition to swimming lessons, JJ also helps people with swimming skills for competency exams, like those training to be firefighters or police officers.

Kobelansky demonstrates proper stroke technique

When he’s not in the water, Kobelansky does the “9 to 5” thing just like the rest of us. As an engineering technician for the state Department of Transportation, he works in the highway planning area, assembling data. Eventually, he hopes to retire from the DOT and teach swimming full time.

“I assemble, prepare data for the federal government, for attorneys. I also prepare it for a web portal for the government, for state people to pull data from. I also do a video service, take pictures for data,” says the UH grad, who not only studied engineering in college, but also came away with a degree in fine arts.

“I got tired of the black and white,” he says of engineering, “I stayed in art for a few years. (I used to participate in) art shows, I did the cover of the phone book one year in the ‘80s. I always thought about teaching swimming.”

Kobelansky’s classes are held Saturday mornings, 9:30 for beginners followed by intermediate and advanced. Private lessons also are available. For more information, call Kobelansky at 373-3839 or check out his web-site (still in the works) www.jjs-swim.com

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