At the age of ten or eleven William O. Douglas decided to learn and swim at the Y. M.C. A. pool because it was only two or three feet deep at the shallow end. He had an aversion to the water but he felt comfortable when he paddled with his new water wings in the water. One day he went to the pool when no one else was there. He was waiting for others to come. Then there came a big bruiser of a boy and yelled; “Hi, skinny! How’d you like to be ducked ?” With that he picked Douglas and tossed him into the deep end. He landed in a sitting position, swallowed water and went at once to the bottom. He feared to be drowned. This misadventure caused a last of trouble to Douglas

William Douglas was thrown into the pool by a muscular boy. He got frightened but did not lose his wits. He was suffocating and grew panicky. The nine-feet deep pool looked like ninety feet deep. He thought to blab to the surface like a cork but he moved slowly In the end he made a plan to come up to the surface by making a big jump when his feet touched the bottom.

He feared water and whenever he went back to the pool, terror seized him. A slightest exertion upset him. He avoided water as far as he could . As and when he tried to enter water, the stark fear would seize him. His legs became paralysed and icy terror would grab his heart.

After his misadventure in the pool, Douglas wanted to get into the waters of the cascades but the old fear overpowered him. His legs would become paralysed and icy terror would grab his heart. He could not enjoy the sports games like canoeing, boating and swimming. He tried to get rid of this fear yet it held him in its firm grip. So he decided to was keen get over his fear of water by engaging an instructor.