I would not swim near a pool drain. If I did a shark would burst through the drain and eat me. Didn't matter if it was a big drain with a grate over it or a tub sized drain.

Élistariel

As a kid I would always see those campers that had a ladder that ran up the back to the top and I thought it had a pool up there.

janet

When I was little I was afraid of pools and hot tubs and baths and sinks and things like that, mainly because they all had a little drainy thing that I thought would suck things under. Now it is 7 years later and the other night I remembered my fear - on the night my friend invited me and some other friends over to go in her hot tub. I was skeptic, but right when we got there, she said (without knowing my fear) "Oh, watch out for the drain in the bottom, a few people have gotten their feet sucked in it."
I stayed in the corner of the hot tub the whole night and am afraid of them again!

Someone

I remember when I was about four or five, my mother used to take me to the local swimming pool back home in Finland, and the swimming pool floor had black and white tiles. I thought the black tiles were whales and if I stepped on one of them they'd eat me!

Linka

i remember an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark where there was this nasty hairy slimey monster in a pool that drowned people, and from the time i saw it til i was about 13 i would never go to the middle of a pool no matter how deep it was for any reason. not even with a group of people.

Tommy

when I was 4, my friend had a pool in her backyard. one day I really wanted to go for a swim, so I asked her if we could swim in her pool. she replied that a monster lived in it and that if we went in it would drag us in and eat us. I stayed away from her pool from that day and was afraid of swimming for a while after that.

val

When I was 5, I got a birthday card that had picture riddles. One of them featured a kiddie pool on top of a car. For several years I thought a "carpool" was literally a car that had a little pool, and I wondered why no one we knew had one...

Jackie

I rember one time when i was six.I was at the swimming pool with my dad and he sai that while i was wimming i went so fast all you could see was the blue of my swim suit

Sasha

As far back as I can remember I have been afraid to be alone in a large bath tub or pool because I had this terrifing phobia that if I was alone in the bath or pool, then a shark/crocodile/snake would swim up the plug hole or out of the filter and eat me.

Jessica

when i was like 7 or 8 i believed that in pools the filters on the side would suck you in and never let you go so i would always go under the water so i would get sucked in

max

When my friend was seven she was involved in the Swim Team. While at a meet, she got tired and had to stand up in the pool for a second, which resulted in a disqualification. When they told her she was "DQ'd", she thought it meant she got a free ice cream at Dairy Queen. Thw whole drive home, she looked out for Dairy Queen signs so she could go get her free ice cream.

Anonymous

Before swimming lessons, my mom would always tell me to finish eating ALL of my lunch, and that if I didn't...in the water, I'd sink - because I didn't have enough food in me.

I honestly believed this till about grade 7...in what turned out to be an embarassing conversation with friends.

Anon.*

When I was about 9 years old I was all into watching shark movies such as jaws and so on. At this time I lived in a mobile home park where my mom would take my brother and I down to the pool to go swimming. Now though I loved learning about sharks and watching them...I was terrified of them! So when we would go swimming I believed that somehow where ever there was water...there could be a shark. (Except of course the bath tub at my house because nothing scary or bad could be somewhere that my parents lived.) so to say the least every time we would go swimming I had this thing that if I went into the deep end I had to be the first one to pass the blue line separating the deep end from the shallow and the first one crossing it to come back or the bottom of the pool would open up and a shark would come out and eat me. ! honestly did this and had it in my head until I was like 12 haha

Kelsey

When at the beach, after eating, our mother would tell my brother and me that we could not go swimming for one hour. When we asked why (we were about five and nine at the time), we were told it was because the combination of food and water may cause cramps. When we were older (young adults) and both received scientific education, we learned that there was no scientific basis to this information/theory. Neverheless, we had to wait the necessary time period, along with our cousins, who were also often at the beach with us.

SPC52

When I was little my younger sister convinced me that there where sharks in the deep end of the swimming pool. Now I hate swimming in water over my head!

Tracy

Since I was a baby, I've always had a fascination for the sea. One day, while living in Indonesia, I took a fish from my fish pond and dove into my swimming pool with it and swam with it, pretending I was a mermaid in an ocean and the little fish was my best friend. The poor little thing died pretty quickly because of the chlorine but it's a story that my friends love because of how innocent we all are when we're young!

Jen Pitch, Australia

I used to fear the deep end of the pool when it was dark. Even though I would be swimming while it was light and knew there was nothing there. I would never go near it while it was dark and always kept an eye on it while in the shallow end.

The Jaws movies was partly to blame as well as when I was young I used to swim in a creek hole that was about four or five feet deep and could feel the frogs swimming by my feet. I think crab nipping at my toes also added to this fear.

Justynn Tyme

i use to think school was a swimming pool with a bunch of old ladys swimming around.

Anon

Someone told me that a girl going through puberty had a period in the pool. I did not really want to go in the pool again after he said that.

Bradley

when we were little and at a swimming party, my friend and i thought it would be cool to take our trikes into the pool and go for an underwater cruise, disregarding the importance of breathing and water resistance. Nevertheless, it seemed like a pretty good idea. My friend started to go in first. Although he fought fiercely to keep hold onto his trike and onto his mission,his mom grabbed him just as he was about to sink under,and the tricycle rolled down to the deep end.

Anon