helps gives swim lessons to city students

Baltimore native and 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps dove into a short lesson with city summer school students Wednesday on how to overcome fear of the water and to become successful and safe swimmers.

Phelps joined about 40 excited students at the Polytechnic Institute pool to launch a partnership between the city schools' Summer Learning Academy and the Michael Phelps Swim School, which will offer 60 middle-school students up to 20 hours of swim lessons this summer, donated by its coaches.

In his remarks before the lesson, the 25-year-old Phelps said he jumped at the opportunity to help students get over their fear of water, a phobia he faced as a beginning swimmer. He said the key to being comfortable in the pool was to "just have fun," and the benefits would range from self-confidence to self-sufficiency.